Over 200 million doses of vaccines against Covid-19 have been administered in at least 107 countries or territories, French news agency AFP reported on Saturday, noting that 45% had been used in the wealthy G7 countries.
According to a tally by AFP based on official sources, at least 201,042,149 doses had been administered worldwide by 11:00 AM on Saturday, a gross underestimate since two major countries, China and Russia, have not conveyed their figures for about 10 days now.
About 45% of the injections were done in the seven G7 countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States – which, together, account for just 10% of the world’s population.
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G7 members made a commitment on Friday towards an improved sharing of vaccines with developing countries. They announced a doubling of their collective support for vaccination against Covid-19, bringing it to 7.5 billion dollars. This will be done largely through the United Nations COVAX programme, piloted by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Thus far, 92% of doses have been administered in high-income countries or the wealthiest of countries placed by the World Bank in the medium-development bracket. Together, they account for a mere 53% of the world’s population.
Among the 29 least developed countries, only Guinea and Rwanda have begun to vaccinate their people.
Israel is the country at the forefront of the global vaccination effort: 49% of its population has already received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, while 33% of Israelis have even received the second dose.
Other countries that have provided over 10% of their populations with at least one dose include Seychelles (43%), the United Kingdom (25%), Bahrein (16%), the United States (13%), Chile (12%) and the Maldives (12%).
The Brussels Times
