In Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, odd-number vaccination rates are declining. This is in sharp contrast to the United States and the United Kingdom and Israel. In the United States, nearly half of people have shot at least once, while in the United Kingdom and Israel, the ratio is even higher.

According to national data and the online scientific publication Data World, these three Pacific countries not only rank the worst among all developed countries in terms of COVID-19 vaccination, but also rank behind many developing countries such as Brazil and India.

Australia, which did not provide the total number of vaccinations, also performed relatively poorly. Several other countries, such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan, which were initially believed to have also made outstanding achievements in fighting the virus, also performed poorly.

As the vaccination campaign accelerates and supplies decrease, this situation may change. At the same time, however, previously successful countries will still be exposed to the virus and face longer delays in reopening the world.

Take Japan as an example. The country only provides about one percent of the population with vaccines and is facing a major new epidemic ten weeks before the upcoming Olympic Games, which has been postponed, even though there are no spectators from abroad.

The government announced last week that the state of emergency would be extended to the end of this month, and more than 7,000 new cases were confirmed last Saturday alone, which is the highest daily number since January.

Bureaucracy has always been part of the problem. Faced with countries where the number of deaths from the virus is increasing, they often throw away the rule book, rush to pass emergency vaccine approval, and postpone the second shot before the recommended timetable to maximize the first shot.

Japan has undergone a more traditional approval process that requires additional clinical testing of vaccines that have been tested elsewhere and are widely used.

New Zealand has also gone through its own approval process and finally praised the Pfizer vaccine in the United States in February, two months after the US regulator approved it for emergency use.

COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins promised last year that New Zealand would be “at the forefront” in vaccines. Now he says the problem is supply. Pfizer declined to discuss whether it could provide products to New Zealand faster, and instead referred the issue back to the government.

Australia faces a series of problems of its own. Its plan to use mainly Australian-made vaccines was hit in December when the plan halted the development of promising candidates due to false positive HIV results.

Then, considering the greater demand from the EU, the EU blocked the shipment of more than 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca to Australia in March. Australian regulators have also changed from recommending the use of AstraZeneca vaccine to Pfizer vaccine as the first choice for people under 50, which further reduces the speed of promotion.

Wait-and-see approach

In South Korea, government officials initially insisted on taking a wait-and-see approach to vaccines, saying that the epidemic in South Korea is not as terrible as the United States or Europe. But as the communication situation has deteriorated in recent months and public pressure has increased, officials have accelerated negotiations with pharmaceutical companies.

Worried about possible shortages, South Korean Prime Minister Jeong Seok-kyun and other officials began to point their fingers at the measures taken by the United States, Europe and India to strengthen vaccine export controls in response to large-scale domestic epidemics.

After accepting a fraction of the millions of vaccines ordered, Taiwan’s first injection rate is less than one percent of its total population. The company has also been developing its own COVID-19 vaccine, which officials say will be used in emergency situations at the end of July.

Helen Petousis-Harris, a vaccine expert at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, said that taking a less crazy and more reasonable approach to vaccination has some advantages.

She said: “After seeing something used 100 million times, it’s much easier to put yourself in something.”

She said that sticking to the three-week schedule for Pfizer vaccines in the second week is likely to result in more people getting these vaccines.

Petousis-Harris said that with the rapid development of the movement, New Zealand and many other slow-developing rich countries may rapidly increase their vaccination rates in the coming months.

She said that by next year, it is likely to become a backward developing country again.

-From the Associated Press, the latest update time is 7:35 AM Eastern Time

What happened in Canada

Watch | Questions revolve around the next development of AstraZeneca vaccine:

More and more provinces are restricting the first dose of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, which raises questions about the vaccine that is still available and people who have already received it. 3:38

As of 10:10 am Eastern Time on Thursday, Canada has reported 1,308,547 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 75,954 are active cases. The total number of deaths on CBC News is 24,797.

Ontario 31 deaths and 2759 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Thursday-the total number of cases reported in the province is 502,171. The province reported that 1,632 people were seen in the hospital due to COVID-related diseases, of which 776 were in the ICU.

Throughout the north, Nunavut It was the first territory to provide the latest data on Thursday, saying there were 12 new cases. Prime Minister Joe Savikataaq said on Twitter that there are 74 active cases in the region, all of which are in Iqaluit.

In Atlantic Canada Nova Scotia Reported 149 new COVID-19 cases On Wednesday, health officials announced that they would suspend the launch of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine.

in Newfoundland and LabradorAccording to health officials, the country no longer provides the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine. 10 new cases of COVID-19. New Brunswick Reported Nine new cases COVID-19 was released on Wednesday, and no new cases have been reported Prince Edward Island.

PEI Prime Minister Dennis King said that his province’s The reopening plan will be released next week, And pointed out that he hopes to see the Atlantic bubble recover in the next few weeks.

in QuebecOn Wednesday, health officials reported 745 new COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths.

in Manitoba Health officer report 364 new COVID-19 cases Three more people died on Wednesday, bringing the pandemic death toll in the province to 1,000.

SaskatchewanAt the same time, 183 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Wednesday, with another 2 deaths.Both Saskatchewan with Alberta Due to supply problems, the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine has been suspended.

in Alberta Health officials report on Wednesday 1,799 new COVID-19 cases Four other people died of the virus. Officials said that 737 people were hospitalized due to COVID-19, and 169 of them received intensive care.

British Columbia, Which reported 600 new COVID-19 cases One more died on Wednesday and the remaining AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine will be kept as a second dose for residents.

-From CBC News and Canadian News Agency, the latest update time is 10:10 AM Eastern Time

What happened around the world

According to a tracking tool maintained by Johns Hopkins University, as of early Thursday morning, more than 160.4 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide. The reported global death toll exceeds 3.3. million.

inside AmericasThe number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell to 473,000 last week, a new pandemic low. The latest evidence shows that as consumers increase spending and more businesses reopen, fewer and fewer employers are laying off workers.

inside Asia Pacific The Sri Lankan government has banned travel in the area for three days to curb the rapidly increasing COVID-19 cases.

in Europe, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced next year an investigation into the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The investigation may focus on why the UK suffered the worst death toll in Europe and was so slow at first that the lockdown could not be implemented.

in Africa, Kenya’s Ministry of Health on Wednesday Say on twitter “So far, 925,509 people across the country have been vaccinated against COVID-19.”

inside middle East, Iran has reported more than 2.7 million COVID-19 cases, and more than 75,900 deaths have been reported.

-From the Associated Press, Reuters and CBC News, the latest update time is 9:05 AM Eastern Time.

Have questions about this story? We will answer as many as possible in the comments.