Several Asian nations are quickly ramping up vaccination campaigns from shaky starts to combat growing Covid-19 infections, as supply shipments roll in and people overcome hesitancy in hopes of easing curbs and freeing up travel.

Japan and South Korea have passed the US in terms of those who have received at least one dose and are fast catching up with the second.

And Australia, which is targeting high vaccination rates in its drive to escape lockdowns and reopen borders, has given 56 per cent of people at least one shot as infections peak.

“That 70pc double dose and 80pc double dose mark is within plain sight,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told media in the capital, Canberra. “Keep going, Australia.”

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