More than 100 M worldwide vaccinated vs COVID

PARIS (AFP) – More than 100 million COVID-19 vaccines have been given around the world, an AFP tally from official sources found yesterday.

But none of the world’s 29 poorest countries has formally started mass vaccination drives, while the richest nations have given more than two-thirds of jabs administered.

Israel leads the race by far, with 37 percent of its population having received at least one dose, while more than a fifth have already got their second.

Yet more than a third of humanity (35 percent) live in countries where vaccination has yet to begin. After Israel, the countries that have given the most doses are in North America, Europe and the Persian Gulf. The UK heads this group in per capita terms with shots given to 13.7 per cent of its people, ahead of the US (32.2 million shots to 7.9 percent).

The European Union has been clashing bitterly with AstraZeneca over access to supplies of its vaccine, with only 12.7 million shots given to 2.3 per cent of its people.

China, by contrast, has given 24 million shots, while India – where many of the vaccines are made - has given only four million to a tiny percentage of its vast population.

The EU’s best performing countries are tiny Malta (5.4 percent), Denmark (3.2 per cent) and Poland (3.1 percent).

The UK’s nearest competitor in Europe is Serbia, which is also outside the bloc. It has given the Chinese Sinopharm and Russia’s Sputnik V jabs to 6.2 percent of its population.

With the World Health Organization lamenting that “rich countries are rolling out vaccines while leastdeveloped countries watch and wait,” 101,317,005 jabs had been given in 77 mostly wealthy countries and territories, AFP’s count found.

Some rich countries, however, have yet to start vaccinating, including Japan, South Korea and Australia, which have managed to contain the pandemic with strict border controls and quarantines.

Meanwhile, Moderna Inc. said on Monday it is proposing filling vials with additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to ease a crunch in manufacturing as the company approaches the manufacturing of almost a million doses a day.

“The company is proposing filling vials with additional doses of vaccine, up to 15 doses versus the current 10 doses,” Moderna said in an emailed statement.

“Moderna would need to have further discussions with the FDA to assure the agency’s comfort with this approach before implementing,” the company said, referring to the US Food and Drug Administration.