Vaccine foundations look shaky in Asia’s virus epicentre

Indonesia has largely relied on the CoronaVac vaccine developed by China, but there are growing questions over its effectiveness against the delta strain of COVID-19.

Military and police are being deployed to enforce movement restrictions in Jakarta. Bloomberg

Emma Connors and Michael Smith

Jul 16, 2021 – 1.15pm

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This week Indonesia overtook India as Asia’s COVID-19 epicentre. The nation posted 56,757 new cases on Thursday, more than five times the number reported a month ago.

The crisis has overwhelmed Indonesia’s health system in many areas and is undermining hard-won economic progress. It also offers the world a frightening example of how the delta strain can kill vaccinated people.

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Emma ConnorsSenior editor and writerEmma Connors was South-east Asia correspondent from October 2019 until mid-2023, based in Jakarta and Singapore. She has previously edited Perspective and Opinion and has written extensively across the AFR and related titles.