Vaccination campaigns against the coronavirus are underway in Asia and all countries except North Korea and some in Central Asia have started inoculation campaigns.
China, India and Russia, which developed or produced their own vaccines, have managed to inoculate a larger part of their populations than most of their regional neighbors. At a rate of 12.4 doses given out per 100 people, India lags a little behind China (23 doses/100 population) and Russia (15 doses/100 population).
Chinese and Indian vaccine diplomacy has given some countries a head start. The Seychelles have used China’s Sinopharm vaccine since January 11 and have now already given out 130 doses per 100 people, also using Covishield from India. The Maldives, which like the Seychelles received the Covishield vaccine as a gift, counted around 80 doses per 100 people since starting the campaign on Feb 1, according to Our World in Data. The donation effort of the Indian-produced AstraZeneca vaccine is, among others, benefiting Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, which had given out between 5 and 8.5 doses per 100 people as of this week. China has donated its vaccines to Cambodia, Laos and Pakistan, while Indonesia is a paying customer to the Chinese.
Among the countries with the least vaccination progress on the continent are Vietnam and Taiwan, which have also experienced few COVID-19 cases. Both countries decided to wait on AstraZeneca deliveries, through the global COVAX initiative and its own contracts.
The Philippines, one of the most affected countries in the region with more than one million cumulative cases, started vaccination efforts in late February, but has not made significant progress. Four million vaccine doses have arrived in the country from China and Russia, while 2.5 million more of the AstraZeneca variety were delivered through the COVAX initiative.
