Delta variant spurs countries to speed up shots
The daily pace of Covid vaccinations has increased in about a dozen countries due to the arrival of the more contagious Delta variant and governments expanding their vaccination drives, a data analysis found.
Israel’s rate of vaccinations has seen a sharp pickup. The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Spain are all vaccinating at their fastest speed to date. Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Sweden are not far behind.
But it is a different story in the United States. At its current, declining pace, 70 per cent of the US population will not receive a first dose of vaccine until December 1, according to the Reuters analysis of Our World in Data vaccination figures. At the current pace, Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, and eight others will reach that benchmark before the end of the month.
And if the current pace is maintained, five more countries will hit 70 per cent by the end of August. Those dates could change depending on many factors, including approvals to vaccinate younger children. In Israel the vaccination rate had plateaued in April as new Covid infections were on a months-long steady decline.
But when the arrival of Delta brought a spike of cases in June, the government jumped in quickly with a new campaign urging teenagers to get the shot and parents to vaccinate their children aged 12 to 15.
In many countries, vaccination drives slowed before reaching 70 per cent or more of the population — a threshold some experts say could help largely curb Covid-19 transmission through socalled herd immunity, when combined with people who developed immunity following an infection.
Heidi Larson, Director of the international Vaccine Confidence Project and a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said a rise in vaccinations due to Delta variant concerns may have been held back by changes seen as signalling an end to the pandemic, such as lifting mask mandates and travel bans.
A rise in vaccinations due to Delta variant concerns may have been held back by changes seen as signalling an end to the pandemic, such as lifting mask mandates and travel bans
HEIDI LARSON Director of international Vaccine Confidence Project