Once early vaccine leaders, U.S. and Israel now trail

The United States was one of the first countries to begin vaccinating its population, and by summer, was leading most nations in getting shots in arms, with 67% of the population receiving at least one shot by July 4.

Today, 87% of people in Portugal are fully vaccinated, according to the Our World in Data project at Oxford University. That rate is second only to that of the United Arab Emirates, a far smaller country whose rulers exert considerably greater control. Earlier this month, Portugal ended nearly all of its coronavirus restrictions.

The United States, meanwhile, despite having a surplus of doses, has fully vaccinated only 57% of its population, according to a New York Times tracker. Resistance remains high among some demographic groups and within some specific workforce sectors, including police officers and firefighters.

That has left the United States lagging behind dozens of nations in the pursuit of full vaccination. Although, with a population of about 330 million, it ranks third in the sheer number of administered doses, more than 411 million, after China’s more than 2.2 billion doses and India’s more than 1 billion.

Other early vaccination leaders have also stumbled. Israel got an early start on its vaccination campaign Dec. 20 and rapidly outpaced virtually every other nation in getting jabs into arms. But today, with hesitancy remaining among Arab, Orthodox Jewish and younger Israelis, the country reports that just 63% of its population is fully vaccinated, less than South Korea, Italy and some 40 other countries.

Public health experts blame the shortcomings of the U.S. effort partly on a toxic political environment, amplified by misinformation on social media and muddled messaging by government authorities.

“Every country has an antivax movement, but in most countries it’s exceedingly small,” said Dr. John Swartzberg, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley. “It’s not a new movement, but it’s never had the traction it has today.”