SE Asia needs vaccine access to curb record deaths - Red CrossA woman prepares to receive a dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine at a school in Pattani on August 10, 2021. (AFP photo)Southeast Asian countries need more help securing Covid-19 vaccines, as the region struggles to contain record infections and deaths driven by the Delta variant, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said. It noted that most Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia have been posting record Covid-19 infections or fatalities. By contrast, Indonesia and Philippines, the most populous countries in Southeast Asia, have only fully vaccinated around 10-11% of their people, while Vietnam sits at below 2%. These coming weeks are critical for scaling up treatment, testing and vaccinations, in every corner of all countries in Southeast Asia," he said, adding that there must be a target for vaccination rates of 70-80%.

Source: Bangkok Post August 18, 2021 01:52 UTC