More than three billion doses of Covid vaccine administered worldwide

More than three billion doses of Covid vaccine have been administered worldwide, according to an AFP count made Tuesday from official sources.

While the first billion was reached 20 weeks after the start of the first mass vaccination campaigns in December and the second billion in 6 weeks, it took less than 4 weeks to reach the third billion.

Some 40% of the doses administered worldwide (1.2 billion) were administered in China. India (329 million) and the United States (324 million) complete the podium.

However, among the countries with more than one million inhabitants, it is in the Middle East that the champions of vaccination are found: the United Arab Emirates (153 doses per 100 inhabitants), Bahrain (124) and Israel (124). These countries are approaching or exceeding 60% of the population fully vaccinated.

Next in line are Chile (118 doses per 100 inhabitants), the United Kingdom (113), Mongolia (111), Uruguay (110), Hungary (107), Qatar (107) and the United States (98). These countries have completely vaccinated about half of their population (between 46% and 54%).

As for the European Union, it has administered 357 million doses to 50% of its population. Some 32% of the bloc's inhabitants are fully vaccinated. Malta, the smallest country in the Union, is by far the most advanced, with over 70% of its population fully vaccinated. The most populous countries in the EU - Germany, France, Italy, Spain - are around the average, with about one-third of their population fully vaccinated.

While most poor countries have now started to vaccinate, mainly through the Covax mechanism (WHO, Gavi alliance and Cepi coalition), there are still major inequalities in the vaccination against Covid: "high-income" countries (as defined by the World Bank) have administered an average of 79 doses per 100 inhabitants, compared to only one dose in "low-income" countries.

Five countries have not yet started their campaign: Tanzania, Burundi, Eritrea, Haiti and North Korea.

Despite the controversy surrounding it, the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, administered in nearly 80% of the countries and territories that vaccinate (at least 171 out of 216), is the most widely distributed in the world.

The vaccine is ahead of its competitors developed by Pfizer/BioNTech (at least 102, 47%), Sinopharm and Moderna (at least 48 countries, 22%), Sputnik V (at least 41, 19%), Johnson & Johnson (at least 31, 14%) and Sinovac (at least 24, 11%).