AFTER sitting on the sidelines as the US and Europe plowed headlong into vaccinating against COVID-19, the part of the world that contained the coronavirus most successfully is finally starting to administer shots.
Hong Kong began its program in the Asian financial hub on Monday, with Chief Executive Carrie Lam getting inoculated with Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s product. Japan, Australia and New Zealand have started vaccinating priority groups with shots from Pfizer, Inc.-BioNTech SE and AstraZeneca Plc. Malaysia kicked off its drive on Wednesday, South Korea is due on Friday and Thailand is preparing for a few days later.
The region’s economic powerhouses and developing nations are jumping in one after another, after watching for months as desperate Western nations snatched up supply. With the coronavirus mostly contained throughout much of Asia, governments have had the luxury to wait and see how safely and effectively these rapidly developed vaccines can … Read the rest
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