Malaysia Among Fastest In Asia Pacific To Access Covid-19 Vaccines: Fitch

Fitch Solutions has listed Malaysia among Asia Pacific nations with the quickest access to Covid-19 vaccines through near-term delivery of effective or approved shots.

Fitch Solutions Group, an affiliate of Fitch Ratings Inc, placed Malaysia in Group 1 that comprises countries with the fastest access to Covid-19 vaccines, with most priority groups to be vaccinated by June 2021.

In its analysis of Covid-19 vaccination in the Asia Pacific region, Fitch Solutions also split countries into Group 2 (countries with slower access, most priority groups vaccinated by September 2021) and Group 3 (countries with slowest access, most priority groups vaccinated by February 2022).

Besides Malaysia, Fitch Solutions also placed Singapore, Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, and Japan in Group 1 with the quickest access to Covid-19 vaccines through near-term delivery of vaccines that have demonstrated efficacy or are already approved. British and American regulators have already approved the Pfizer-BioNTech shot.

The United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also approved Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine. Both Pfizer and Moderna shots showed roughly similar efficacy rates at 95 per cent and 94 per cent respectively in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 infections. AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine showed 62 per cent efficacy for participants who received two full doses at least a month apart, as well as 90 per cent efficacy for the minority of participants who received a half dose first, according to an interim analysis of its Phase 3 trial published in the Lancet on December 8.

Fitch Solutions listed Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam in Group 2 with medium-term access to Covid-19 vaccines that are unlikely to gain regulatory approval until the second quarter of 2021, or countries for which slower vaccine rollout is expected.

According to the research unit, a number of countries closely aligned with China — including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam — have already been promised coronavirus vaccine supply by China, as Fitch Solutions projected delivery of a significant number of doses to these nations during the first half of next year.

“However, some of the countries have also made more formal agreements for vaccine supply from other developers and are not willing to receive the promised vaccines.”

Afghanistan, Bhutan, Brunei, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Timor-Leste were listed in Group 3 as they have yet to make direct agreements with vaccine manufacturers and will rely instead on the global COVAX scheme co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“COVAX is now purchasing vaccines from developers; however, progress on this front has been slow as many countries have also made deals direct with vaccine manufacturers, effectively booking large proportions of the available vaccine supply expected in 2021. “As a result, we do not expect COVAX to make a significant improvement to the global vaccine access picture until at least H221,” said Fitch Solutions.

Ref: codeblue