Asia is lagging behind on vaccinations
Until the end of last year, Asia led the world in its fight against Covid-19. Some countries, such as China, suppressed the virus close to zero; others, such as Taiwan, never let it get started in the first place. Where coronavirus did get a foothold, from Japan to Vietnam and India, most Asian countries managed it with less disruption and lower death rates than in Europe or North America.
On December 2 2020, however, the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine won its first approval in the United Kingdom and since then the situation has changed. The UK has given 91 doses of vaccine per 100 people, the US has given 86 and the EU 50. By contrast, China has given 37 doses, India 14, South Korea 11 and Japan just 7. Having led the way in public health control of Covid-19, Asia has fallen behind on vaccination.
To make matters worse, Asia’s grip over the virus has also begun to slide. The present outbreak in India is the worst anywhere. Covid-19 is finally loose in Taiwan, with cases running at several hundred a day. Most of Japan’s big cities remain under a state of emergency; Thailand is suffering its worst outbreak to date. This is hurting people and livelihoods.
It also has big implications for the world and its economy. While Asia remains wide open to coronavirus infection, it will be impossible to restart international travel in full, cutting off a huge flow of people and activity. It will place severe constraints on the Tokyo Olympics this summer, which are facing wide popular opposition in Japan. Furthermore, it creates the risk of an unbalanced global recovery, as the biggest surplus regions in Asia are slowest to bounce back.
Clearly, Asia needs to vaccinate. But that is easier said than done, because last year’s triumphs of public health control are linked to today’s slow progress on inoculation. Having not suffered the same extremes of lockdown and overflowing hospitals, Asian countries did not bet so aggressively on developing and procuring pharmaceuticals.
The issue differs slightly from country to country. In some, there was hubris, such as the proclamation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January that India had beaten Covid-19. Others, such as Japan, have insisted on a lengthy process of domestic clinical trials before approving vaccines, letting others get to the front of the queue in the race for limited supplies. China is choosing to export many of its jabs around the world.
Asian countries cannot magically summon a supply of vaccine. What they can do is plan for the speediest possible inoculation campaign, as greater supplies become available in the course of this year. The success of vaccination drives in the US, UK and Israel holds lessons in how to do that.
One is ensuring capacity. Let dentists, nurses, pharmacists and even sensibly trained volunteers give the jab. Any country that requires a doctor to vaccinate has failed to balance correctly the risk to life from an allergic reaction with the risk from a prolonged pandemic.
Another is how to drive demand. Certainly, many people are desperate for a Covid jab, and will flock to the clinics as soon as they are told they can. The most elderly and vulnerable, however, are precisely those who will not. Where possible, it is better to solicit them directly, or take the vaccine on the road to nursing homes and care centres.
Through the course of the pandemic, Asia has demonstrated its prowess in public health. Now it is time to put those organisational skills to work, injecting vaccines in arms.