CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Australia started its COVID-19 vaccination program on Monday, days after neighboring New Zealand, with both governments deciding their pandemic experiences did not require a rapid follow-up of the roll-out of vaccines in many parts of the world took place.
Other countries in the Asia-Pacific region that have coped relatively well with the pandemic have only recently started or are on the verge of vaccinating, including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore.
Catherine Bennett, an epidemiologist at Deakin University in Australia, said countries not facing a virus crisis would benefit from taking their time and learning from countries that have implemented emergency vaccination measures, such as the United States.
“We now have data on pregnant women who have been vaccinated. Natural accidents, such as incorrect dosing, happen in a real world, ”said Bennett. “All those things are really valuable insights.”
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison received his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Sunday as a vote of confidence in the product. Australia is prioritizing building public confidence in COVID-19 vaccines ahead of the speed of delivery.
Health and border guards, as well as nursing home residents and workers, began getting the Pfizer vaccine at nodes across the country on Monday. Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine when it becomes available within weeks.
The vast majority of cases in Australia are travelers who are infected abroad and discovered during 14 days of mandatory hotel quarantines. Australia has recorded 909 deaths from the coronavirus.
New Zealand started vaccinations last week after receiving the first batch of the Pfizer vaccine.
The country of 5 million has successfully eradicated the spread of the virus, and the first people to get the shots are frontier workers and their families. That’s a different priority group than in most countries, and the idea is to prevent the virus from spreading through arriving travelers who are infected. Thereafter, health and vital workers, along with frail older people, will be vaccinated.
However, the rollout of a program to vaccinate the wider population of New Zealand will not begin until the second half of the year, as in many other countries.
In Australia, some infectious disease and ethics experts at the Australian National University have accused the government of hoarding vaccines and argued that the government should send surplus supplies to countries in desperate need.
Elsewhere in Asia, Thailand, where only 83 virus deaths have occurred, has yet to start vaccinations. It will receive the first 200,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine on Wednesday. That is part of the Thai government’s plan that has so far obtained 2 million doses of Sinovac and 61 million doses of AstraZeneca.
The government has a policy of vaccinating all Thais for free and is aiming to inject half of the population this year. The government said it hopes to start vaccinations a few days after the first batch of vaccines arrives.
Vietnam, which has recorded 35 deaths, announced last week that it will receive 5 million doses of vaccine by the end of February and hopes to start vaccinations as early as early March. Five million people – mostly frontline workers – get the first chance.
Cambodia, which has not yet reported virus deaths, received its first shipment of 600,000 vaccine doses from China on Feb. 7, part of 1 million doses donated by Beijing. The country began the vaccination program on February 10, starting with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s sons, ministers and officials in a state-run hospital.
In Singapore, which has reported 29 virus deaths, some 250,000 residents, including health workers and other frontline workers, had been vaccinated as of last week, according to health officials. The goal is to have an additional 1 million people receive their first dose of the vaccine by early April.
Laos, which has also reported no deaths, received 300,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine on Feb. 8. A health ministry official said it expects 20% of the Laotian population, or 1.6 million people, to be vaccinated within the year.