Prognosis
Cautious Asia Nations Finally Fire Starting Gun on Vaccines
- Inoculations kick off in Hong Kong, Japan and Australia
- Some adopted wait-and-see approach to western vaccine drives
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After sitting on the sidelines as the U.S. 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.