Japan begins jabs as global view brightens

TOKYO－Japan launched its coronavirus vaccination program on Wednesday, five months ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, as the World Health Organization reported a fall in new cases around the world.

That day, Australia and New Zealand ended snap lockdowns after they successfully brought small outbreaks under control in just days－suggesting that despite their unpopularity, movement restrictions remain vital tools against the pandemic.

Japan kicked off its inoculation drive at a Tokyo hospital, with a plan to initially give shots of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech to 40,000 healthcare workers.

"Hopefully vaccinations … can change the situation here," nurse Rino Yoshida told national broadcaster NHK after she got one of the first jabs.

Japan is battling a much more limited outbreak compared with hard-hit countries such as the United States and Britain, but its response is being closely watched around the world as doubts swirl over the postponed Tokyo Olympics, due to start July 23.

Organizers have outlined measures they say will keep the Games safe even without requiring participants to be vaccinated or quarantined on arrival.

But there are fears among the Japanese public and experts that the precautions may not be enough for a global event, even as the WHO on Tuesday reported a slowing of the pandemic.

New infections worldwide fell by 16 percent last week, while the number of new deaths dropped 10 percent week-on-week, based on figures up to Sunday.

"The fire is not out, but we have reduced its size," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

With infections topping 109 million and more than 2.4 million deaths, the pandemic has devastated the global economy, and populations are growing increasingly frustrated with financially painful restrictions that authorities and experts say are necessary to fight the virus.

Among the countries that have successfully deployed such measures is Australia, where stay-at-home measures for 6 million people in Victoria state were to be lifted late on Wednesday after a snap five-day lockdown brought an outbreak under control.

"If we had been open throughout this outbreak… total case numbers would be much, much higher and it is a certainty that I would not be reporting zero cases today," said Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews.

Neighboring New Zealand, widely praised for its COVID-19 strategy, also ended a snap lockdown it had imposed from Monday in its largest city Auckland after three community cases emerged.

Inoculations progress

As for the state of progress on vaccinations worldwide, the United Kingdom is among the countries with the fastest rollout per capita.

The UK could give two doses of COVID-19 vaccine to all adults by August or September, helped by its portfolio approach of buying from several producers, the interim head of the country's vaccine task force told Sky News on Tuesday. Britain has vaccinated 15.6 million people with a first dose.

Clive Dix, leading the group that managed Britain's vaccine procurement strategy, told Sky News that more vaccines would be approved for use in the "very near future", providing enough shots.

US President Joe Biden told a CNN town hall on Tuesday that the United States－the worst-hit nation in the world－would have"600 million doses, enough to vaccinate every American" by the end of July.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard had earlier said his government would complain to the United Nations about hoarding and inequalities in the global inoculation drive.

And Nigeria's Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the new head of the World Trade Organization, said the body can help ensure universal access to the jabs.

"It's really in the self-interest of every country to see everyone vaccinated because you're not safe until everyone is safe," she said.

Agencies Via Xinhua