How Fast Are Some Of The Middle And High-Income Countries Vaccinating Their Citizens?

Five per cent of the world population has been fully vaccinated against the Covid-19. But as per a recent report, most of the vaccines are going to the wealthiest nations.

An analysis of data collected by the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker has revealed that as of now, countries making up the least-wealthy 11 per cent have gotten around 1.6 per cent of the vaccines administered.

While the United States, United Kingdom and UAE and Israel have been providing as many vaccine doses as possible to their countrymen, the world’s least wealthy continent, Africa, remains as the least vaccinated region.

Last week, Bloomberg reported that countries with the highest incomes are giving Covid-19 vaccines 25 times faster than those with the lowest. This revelation comes as the database tracked down over 726 million doses administered in 154 countries.

The report added: “The pattern is repeated across the globe and follows efforts by wealthy countries to pre-purchase billions of doses of vaccines, enough to cover their populations several times over, according to a separate analysis of vaccine deals.”

Even the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that high-income countries had on average vaccinated one in four people while in low-income countries it was one in more than 500 individuals.

It has been a concern since the beginning of the vaccine development that if rich countries ramp up their vaccination efforts, then how developing countries receive and distribute vaccines on time.

Ghebreyesus earlier urged the wealthy nations not to make additional vaccine purchases that could hamper efforts to begin coronavirus vaccinations in poor and middle-income countries. But it is affecting anyway.

Several scientists and healthcare experts have been asking people to take the jab as soon as possible as the vaccine shots are the only hope to put an end to this fight against the virus.

But if people are not getting the jabs on time, then how this pandemic will stop and how the world will be normal again?

However, in terms of India, which is classified as a lower-middle-income country by the World Bank, the government has successfully administered around 104 million vaccine doses.

In the country, which has a population of about 1.38 billion, now over 1 crore people are fully vaccinated and in all more than 10 crore people have received a jab of the vaccine.

But some low, middle and high-income countries are still struggling to fast-track the vaccination process.

Here's a look at them.

Brazil

The South-American country, Brazil, is witnessing the darkest month of the pandemic.

Hospitals are struggling with a tsunami of Covid-19 cases, deaths on track for record highs and a few signs of a reprieve from a troubled vaccination drive in the country.

The Brazilian Prime Minister Jair Bolsonaro has been facing criticism since the beginning of the pandemic for his role to control the virus surge in the country and controversial comments on the vaccine’s side effect.

His administration ignored pleas to sign more than one contract for vaccines for months.

According to a recent report by the AP, in April the health ministry has cut its outlook for Covid-19 vaccine supplies to half their initial level.

Even the country’s two biggest laboratories are also facing supply constraints which means that tens of thousands more deaths when the contagious Brazil variant continues to spread across the country.

The country, which has a population of about 210 million, has reported around 353,000 Covid-19 deaths and over 13 million infection cases till 12 April.

But as of now, Brazil has administered almost 25 million vaccine doses, while only 6.04 million people are now fully vaccinated.

Of the 10 per cent of people who received one dose so far in Brazil, the vast majority has received shots from Sao Paulo’s Butantan Institute, which is mixing an active ingredient from China with a sterile solution.

The rest of the population has received the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and its pharmaceutical partner AstraZeneca, which government health institute Fiocruz is bottling.

Singapore

The Southeast Asian country, Singapore which has around 5.7 million population has reported over 60,000 coronavirus cases.

As of now, the high-income country has given shots to 14 per cent of its population.

But last week, the government announced that it has decided to expand the country’s vaccination program from senior to everyone below the age of 45.

People who are below the age of 45 will be invited to register their vaccination slot from June.

The city-state has administered the vaccines developed by American giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, as well as another US company Moderna.

As reported, Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary said that they are looking forward to vaccinating the entire country by the end of 2021.

As per the current data, around 1.6 million vaccine doses have been administered in Singapore, while only 500,000 people have received their second jab.

The minister also said that currently the number of vaccination centres has been expanded to 31. But there will be a total of 40 vaccination centres in Singapore by mid-April.

Japan

The Asian country, which is now preparing for the Summer Olympics in July, has just started to vaccinate its population from 12 April—several months after the mass vaccination program started in the United States, the United Kingdom and India.

The new Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihide Suga has been facing criticism for the late vaccination program at a time when Tokyo will be hosting one of the big sporting events of the year in the coming months, greeting thousands of athletes from other countries amid the pandemic.

As per the reports, Japan, which has a population of 120 million, has started vaccinating older people age 65 or above from Monday after priority was given to inoculating healthcare workers first—involving around 4.8 million doctors and nurses.

The country has planned to secure enough Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shots for almost 36 million people who are 65-year-old or above.

The plan also includes the delivery of the vaccines to municipalities by late June.

Slow vaccination drive not only raises concern related to the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games but also means struggling businesses and fearful shoppers will have to hold out for long as the economic recovery will take time.

But considering the resurgence of infections in Japan, which has reported around 502,000 Covid-19 cases, there is a concern that healthcare workers may not be able to keep up with the inoculation schedule.

However, local authorities from at least 39 of Japan’s 47 prefectures were scheduled to start vaccinating older people at clinics, as well as facilities such as public halls and gymnasiums on Monday.

According to health ministry data, as of last week, 1.1 million people had received at least one vaccine dose that is equivalent to less than 1 per cent of Japan's population.

Australia

Australia has abandoned the plan to vaccinate nearly 26 million of its population by the end of 2021.

This decision was made following advice that people under the age group of 50 take the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine rather than the AstraZeneca shot.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a Facebook post on 11 April that the country, which reported over 577,000 Covid-19 cases, had no plans to set new targets for completing its inoculation program.

The recommendation by the authorities in Canberra was changed after European drug regulators reiterated the possibility of links between the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot and cases of rare blood clots.

Australia has raced to double its order of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine last week.

As per Reuters, Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said that by the end of the year the country will have 40 million doses of Pfizer vaccine which will be enough to vaccinate the whole nation.

However, currently, the government is waiting for projection on how many people would reject the AstraZeneca vaccine, how many would embrace more Pfizer shots and whether there is a need for another vaccine candidate—so that it can recalibrate the rollout.

South Africa

Last week, South Africa has announced the launch of its mass vaccination campaign.

Now, the goal is to vaccinate over 40 million people by February 2022.

South Africa, which has a population of about 59 million, has reported 1 million Covid-19 cases and lost more than 53,000 lives—nearly half the continent’s deaths from the disease.

Even though the country’s vaccination campaign has been moving slowly, it has finalized the purchases of 51 million doses which would accelerate the deliveries.

As per Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, the country has acquired 31 million of Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine and 20 million Pfizer vaccine shots. In April, South Africa is expecting to receive 3 million J&J and 6 million Pfizer doses.

Since mid-February, when the government began giving J&J doses to healthcare workers as a large-scale test, only around 283,000 people received the shots.

However, the country is aiming to start the mass vaccination in mid-May during which 16.6 million elderly, essential workers and others at risk will get the shots.

Later, in October the country will start giving the vaccine to about 22.6 million adults and try to achieve the goal by the next year.