India, China may take lead in Asia’s Covid vaccination plans, says Moody’s Analytics

India and China are expected to take the lead in driving Asia’s vaccination plans efforts, even as third waves of infections and stringent measures to curb fresh COVID-19 cases in Japan, South Korea and some South-East Asian Nations remain a dampener for Asia’s uneven economic recovery, Moody’s Analytics said in a note.

Terming India’s beginning of the vaccination programme a ‘crucial development’ for Asia, the firm said that the country’s advances on this front would soften the severity of the pandemic in Asia, especially as India is the second most-impacted country after the U.S.

“As the largest producer of vaccines in the world, with 60% of the global share, India is well-positioned to use its existing manufacturing capabilities to contribute to mass vaccine production and distribution needs for other countries in addition to meeting its domestic requirements,” the note said.

“With exports of the COVID-19 vaccines expected to begin soon, India [along with China] look set to take the lead in driving the region’s distribution efforts in the months ahead,” the note added. Indonesia’s approval of China’s COVID-19 vaccine Sinovac for emergency use, the first country outside China to do so, could open the door for other Asian economies to follow suit. However, mixed reports on the vaccine’s effectiveness have set back vaccination plans in countries considering its use, the firm said.