Southeast Asian countries need more help securing COVID-19 vaccines, as the region struggles to contain record infections and deaths driven by the Delta variant, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

The region escaped the worst when the pandemic erupted last year, but in recent weeks has seen the highest deaths globally, as soaring infections push fragile healthcare systems to the brink and expose sluggish vaccination rollouts.

"This COVID-19 surge driven by the Delta variant is claiming a tragic toll on families across Southeast Asia and it's far from over," Alexander Matheou, Asia Pacific Director, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said in a statement.

It noted that most Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia have been posting record COVID-19 infections or fatalities.

Political top-down governance and the rising challenges to civil society actors make it even more difficult for Southeast Asian citizens to engage with governments choose to address these crises.

In Southeast Asia, the many social and cultural dimensions of the pandemic have become obscure. The voices of humanities and social science experts and even public health specialists seem subdued.

Governments have implemented measures top-down without much discussion of whether these suit the context or of the implications and impacts. Yet, this crisis is complex and systemic. It needs to be dissected from a number of angles.

Faced with these authoritarian trends, Southeast Asian populations rely on localized, confidential or invisible arrangements to care and sustain the local economy and their systems of material solidarity.