As infections climb, could slow vaccine rollout undermine Asia’s success curbing Covid?

Last June, the US and the UK, both in crisis over the pandemic, took a gamble on investing early and heavily in new vaccines, and in retrospect it paid off, putting them at the front of the line, he added.

“The risk equation was different for Korea and Japan… for the US they knew everything was failing. They couldn’t get people to wear masks, they couldn’t get enforcement of distancing laws or keep people out of restaurants or churches and so they said okay, the only thing we have are vaccines.”

But the question of whether Asia may ultimately fall behind the UK, US and Europe as the world slowly emerges from the pandemic is a difficult one to answer.

“Even if the United States is successful in vaccinating its people and opening up, if 500,000 people died, who did better?” asked Dr Kim.

“It depends on what the end in mind is. If your end in mind is being safe from the…