Caution vs haste

– AFP

WHILE some countries – principally the United States, the United Kingdom and a few others – have already launched ambitious vaccination programmes and others plan to do so in the next few days, the studied reluctance of some countries that had fared relatively well in controlling the coronavirus epidemic to commence vaccination drives must invite attention.

These countries have not yet approved any of the vaccine candidates on offer and have opted to observe developments across the world before taking a decision. Among them are Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia.