Slow vaccine rollout casts cloud on Davos and global events in Asia

WEF Japan chief says country can show leadership in multilateralism

20210219 Vaccine in Japan and WEF

Global vaccinations are moving more slowly than what was initially thought. (Source photos by Yuki Nakao and Reuters) 

ERI SUGIURA, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- From an annual meeting of the global elite to the Summer Games in Tokyo, the slower-than-expected, and at times clumsy, COVID-19 vaccine rollout has cast doubt on the ability to host international conferences and major sporting events with international spectators.

Singapore is set to host the special annual meeting of World Economic Forum after the international organization moved the site from its traditional home of Davos, Switzerland, to avoid the coronavirus outbreak in Europe. But on Feb. 3, the WEF postponed the meeting from May to August, only days after it held virtual meetings that included world leaders such as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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