CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Australia launched its COVID-19 vaccination program on Monday, days after its neighbor New Zealand, with both governments deciding that their pandemic experiences will not speed up the detection of vaccines that are in many parts of the world did not take place.
Other countries in the Asia-Pacific region that have dealt with the pandemic relatively well have recently started vaccination or are about to, including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore.
Catherine Bennett, an epidemiologist at Deakin University in Australia, said countries that are not experiencing a virus crisis are benefiting from their time and learning from countries that have taken emergency vaccination measures such as the United States.
‘We now have data on pregnant women being vaccinated. “Natural disasters, such as improper applications, occur in a real-world deployment,” Bennett said. “All of these are really valuable insights.”
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday had his first dose of Pfizer vaccine in a show of confidence in the product. Australia prioritises building confidence in COVID-19 vaccines before delivery.
Health and border control workers, as well as residents of nursing homes and workers, began getting the Pfizer vaccine Monday at hubs across the country. Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine when it becomes available within a few weeks.
The vast majority of cases in Australia are travelers infected abroad, who are detected during compulsory 14-day hotel quarantine. Australia has recorded 909 coronavirus deaths.
New Zealand started vaccinations last week after receiving its first batch of Pfizer vaccine.
The 5 million country has successfully eliminated the spread of the virus, and the first people to get the shots are frontier workers and their families. This is a different priority group than in most countries, and the idea is to prevent the virus from spreading from arriving infected travelers. Thereafter, health care and essential workers, along with vulnerable elderly people, will be vaccinated.
However, the implementation of a program to vaccinate the wider population in New Zealand will only start in the second half of the year, behind many other countries.
In Australia, some experts in infectious diseases and ethics at the Australian National University have accused the government of stockpiling vaccines, arguing that the government should send excess supplies to countries in desperate need.
Elsewhere in Asia, Thailand, which has seen only 83 virus deaths, it has yet to be vaccinated. It will receive the first 200,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine on Wednesday. It is part of the Thai government’s plan that has so far secured 2 million doses of Sinovac and 61 million doses of AstraZeneca.
The government has a policy of offering free vaccinations to all Thais and aims to inject half of the population this year. The government said it hoped to begin vaccinations a few days after the first vaccine arrived.
Vietnam, which recorded 35 deaths, announced last week that it would receive 5 million doses of vaccinations by the end of February and hopes to start vaccinations as early as March. Five million people – mostly front workers – will get the first time.
Cambodia, which has not yet reported any virus deaths, received its first shipment of 600,000 doses of vaccine from China on February 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, government ministers and officials in a state hospital.
In Singapore, which reported 29 virus deaths, some 250,000 residents, including health workers and other front-line workers, have been vaccinated since last week, according to health officials. The goal is to get another 1 million people their first dose of the vaccine in early April.
Laos, which also reported no deaths, received 300,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine on February 8. A Ministry of Health official said he expected 20% of the Lao population, or 1.6 million people, to be vaccinated within the year.