Six billion doses of vaccine administered worldwide

Vaccination worldwide has been progressing at a steady pace for the past three months: the milestone of six billion doses injected was reached in 29 days, following on from the fourth and fifth billions reached in 30 and 26 days respectively. When the first vaccination campaigns were launched, the first billion doses were reached in about 140 days. With 2.18 billion injections, China accounts for nearly four out of every ten doses administered worldwide. India (826.5 million) and the United States (386.8 million) complete the podium in absolute terms. However, among countries with more than one million inhabitants, the United Arab Emirates is the vaccination champion: it has administered 198 doses per 100 inhabitants and more than 81% of its population is fully vaccinated. Uruguay (175 doses per 100 inhabitants), Israel (171), Cuba (163), Qatar (162) and Portugal (154) are next in line. Most of these countries have completely vaccinated a large majority of their population.

Some, such as the Emirates, Israel and Uruguay, have even started to administer a third dose per person, in order to prolong the immunization of fully vaccinated people. France is not far behind, with 139 doses injected per 100 inhabitants and 70.8% of its population having received two doses.

Most poor countries have also started to vaccinate, mainly thanks to an international solidarity mechanism called Covax (WHO, Gavi alliance and Cepi coalition), but this remains very unequal. High income countries as defined by the World Bank have administered an average of 124 doses per 100 inhabitants, while low-income countries have administered only 4. However, the latter have slightly accelerated their campaigns in recent weeks, thanks in particular to doses donated by rich countries. Three countries have not yet started their campaign: Burundi and Eritrea in East Africa, and North Korea in Asia.