Thread by @Humble_Analysis

Japan, Korea, Cambodia are three of the most vaccinated nations on Earth (80% fully vax). Yet each has had their largest "wave" post-mass vaccination; more interestingly, there has been no "de-coupling" of cases & deaths evident in Asia.

Do vaccines not reduce severity in Asia?

More to the point - severity has always been so inconsequentially low in eastern Asia that vaccination was unnecessary in this region and likely redundant of immunity from prior exposure to similar viruses.

There are 560 million people living in this region of Asia, none of whom, apparently, ever faced a significant mortality risk from covid-19.

Do masks magically work in Asia but not Europe or America?

While east Asia is thin, it is not young, so there should have been significant risk. What has protected them?

Perhaps prior exposure to similar coronaviruses? Bats harboring related virus have been found in China, Thailand, and Cambodia:

nature.com/articles/s4146…

Whatever the cause, east Asia has been spared from significant mortality.

We do know that it wasn't track-and-trace, or masks, or vaccines that saved them because these interventions have failed everywhere else they've been tried.

These nations are not immune to all respiratory viruses, either - many prior pandemics have taken a terrible toll in east Asia and the flu visits this region just as it does any other (despite widespread use of masks):

nippon.com/en/japan-data/…

So, east Asia has been spared from covid-19, in particular, not from respiratory viruses in general, and it has nothing to do with any human intervention.

There is a natural cause for their immunity; either genetic, or prior exposure, or happenstance (BCG vaccination?).