Asia Developments, South Korea first shots, China approves 2 more vaccines

South Korea administered its first available shots of coronavirus vaccines to people at long-term care facilities Friday, launching a mass immunization campaign that health authorities hope will restore some level of normalcy by the end of the year.

The rollout of vaccines come at a critical time for the country, which has seen its hard-won gains against the virus get wiped out by a winter surge and is struggling to mitigate the pandemic’s economic shock that decimated service sector jobs. ...

He said the government has decided to extend current social distancing levels for at least another two weeks, clamping down on private social gatherings of five or more people and banning indoor dining after 10 p.m., to help create a safe environment for vaccinations. ...

In other developments around the Asia-Pacific region:

— Hong Kong began administering its first COVID-19 vaccines to the public, kicking off its program offering free vaccinations to all 7.5 million residents. People age 60 and older and health care workers are among the some 2.4 million people currently prioritized to receive vaccines at community centers and outpatient clinics across Hong Kong. ... Participants so far will be receiving the vaccine by Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac. ...Hong Kong has struck deals to buy 22.5 million doses of vaccines, from Sinovac, AstraZeneca and Fosun Pharma, which will deliver the vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech.

— Sri Lanka’s government has changed its policy of allowing only cremations for COVID-19 victims and will allow burials, after months of protests by Muslims and others that it is insensitive toward religious beliefs. The government issued the decree Thursday night allowing cremation and burials following stipulated health guidelines. ...

— A state of emergency that was set up to curb the coronavirus in Japan will be lifted in six urban areas this weekend while staying in the Tokyo area for another week. ... The state of emergency began in January and centered around asking restaurants, bars and other businesses to close at 8 p.m.  ...Separately, Japan said coronavirus vaccine shipments will arrive at the local government offices by the end of June to inoculate the nation’s 36 million elderly people. ...