Vaccinating Asia: How does world's largest continent immunise 4.5 billion people in shortest time possible?

‘It is a critical issue as the world rushes to achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus. How does the largest continent in the world immunise 4.5 billion people in the shortest time possible? The Straits Times bureaus find out in this special report.’

• Grappling with myriad challenges on path towards Covid-19 immunity
• Midwives and soldiers in Indonesia mobilised to support country's inoculation drive
• Millions of undocumented migrants in Malaysia keen on Covid-19 jab but wary of arrest
• Filipinos in search of coveted 'Covid-19 passport'
• India's greatest challenge lies in vaccinating rural villages
• Quality and quantity of Covid-19 vaccines in China hamper inoculation drive
• Hong Kong's Covid-19 vaccination drive zips ahead despite woes
• South Korean govt draws flak for not mandating Covid-19 vaccine holiday after roll-out delay
• South Korean man, Singaporean fiancee inoculated ahead of May wedding
• Japan's chequered past with vaccines raises fresh fears
• No rush for Covid-19 jab in Taiwan, given fears over side effects
• Religious, community groups, experts clear doubts about Covid-19 jabs in Singapore
• Church webinar in S'pore convinces senior to take Covid-19 jab
• Tapping TikTok videos and social media influencers to spread information on vaccines in Singapore
• MCI officers create skits, dances on TikTok to debunk Covid-19 myths
• Foodcourt chat to allay fears about Covid-19 shots among Singaporeans

Read here (Straits Times, Apr 2, 2021) 

How Taiwan triumphed over Covid as the UK faltered

‘Taiwan’s leaders, helped perhaps by having an epidemiologist as vice-president, perhaps by its experience of the outbreak of the Sars coronavirus in 2003, recognised the terrible threat posed by Covid-19, even as the earliest data trickled in. They decided the only way to protect their country, its people and economy, was to keep the virus out.

‘Britain, by contrast, made the catastrophic decision to treat the disease as akin to flu, aiming to limit its spread rather than stamp it out, said Jay Patel, a Covid-19 researcher at Edinburgh who studies comparative approaches to the pandemic worldwide. “Their playbook to begin with was different,” he said.’

Read here (Defend Democracy Press, Mar 21, 2021)

Taiwan’s coronavirus success, job opportunities lure foreigners to talent-thirsty island

‘Taiwan is becoming increasingly attractive for expats, with the number of foreigners obtaining residency permits and entrepreneur visas climbing in recent years. The island is tempting international professionals with its successful handling of the pandemic, its media freedoms and ‘gold card’ scheme for skilled workers.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, Jan 12, 2021)

Taiwan just went 200 days without a locally transmitted Covid-19 case. Here's how they did it

‘As much of the world struggles to contain new waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, Taiwan just marked its 200th consecutive day without a locally transmitted case of the disease. Taipei's response to the coronavirus pandemic has been one of the world's most effective. The island of 23 million people last reported a locally transmitted case on April 12, which was Easter Sunday. As of Thursday, it had confirmed 553 cases -- only 55 of which were local transmissions. Seven deaths have been recorded.’

Read here (CNN, Oct 30, 2020)

In Taiwan’s ‘container houses’ for migrant workers, coronavirus not the only health risk

‘While Taiwan has avoided a huge outbreak, activists doubt the government’s readiness to protect migrant workers, some of whom live in dorms of 30 people a room. Aside from the coronavirus, packed dorms located within factory grounds leave workers at risk of fire hazards.

‘In Taiwan, there are more than 718,000 blue-collar migrant workers. The highest number – nearly 280,000, or about 40 per cent of the migrant worker community – comes from Indonesia, followed by Vietnam (221,400), the Philippines (158,700) and Thailand (58,700). They mostly work in the manufacturing and caregiving sectors, as well as agriculture, forestry and fishing.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, April 26, 2020)

Learning how to dance - Part 1: A dancing masterclass, or what we can learn from countries around the world. Tomas Pueyo

‘A month ago we sounded the alarm with “Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now”. After that, we asked countries to buy us time with “Coronavirus: The Hammer and the Dance” and looked in detail at the US situation with “Coronavirus: Out of Many, One. Together”, these articles have been viewed by over 60 million people and translated into over 40 languages.

‘This article will explain when, and how, we will dance. Specifically, we will discover:

• What can we learn from the experiences of countries around the world?
• What measures will we need to implement during the dance, so we can get back to a new normal? At what cost?
• How can we make them a reality?’

Read here (Medium, April 20, 2020)

Twelve lessons from countries that have ameliorated the effects of Covid-19

Taiwan, Iceland, South Korea and Germany, according to this CNN article, have succeeded so far in ameliorating the effects of Covid-19. There are 12 lessons to be learned from them:

Lesson #1: Be prepared
Lesson #2: Be quick
Lesson #3: Test, trace and quarantine
Lesson #4: Use data and tech
Lesson #5: Be aggressive
Lesson #6: Get the private sector involved 
Lesson #7: Act preventatively
Lesson #8: Use tech, but respect privacy
Lesson #9: You can drive-through test
Lesson #10: Learn from the past
Lesson #11: Test more as restrictions ease
Lesson #12: Build capacity at hospitals

Read here (CNN, April 16, 2020)

Response to COVID-19 in Taiwan: Big data analytics, new technology, and proactive testing

This paper published in the JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) network, covers how Taiwan (1) recognised the crisis (2) managed it (3) communicated to the public about it. It concludes:

‘Taiwan’s government learned from its 2003 SARS experience and established a public health response mechanism for enabling rapid actions for the next crisis. Well-trained and experienced teams of officials were quick to recognize the crisis and activated emergency management structures to address the emerging outbreak.

‘In a crisis, governments often make difficult decisions under uncertainty and time constraints. These decisions must be both culturally appropriate and sensitive to the population. Through early recognition of the crisis, daily briefings to the public, and simple health messaging, the government was able to reassure the public by delivering timely, accurate, and transparent information regarding the evolving epidemic. Taiwan is an example of how a society can respond quickly to a crisis and protect the interests of its citizens.’

Read here (JamaNetwork, March 3, 2020)

Read related article in Stanford.edu here