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Friday March 29, 2024

Over 100m vaccinated across the globe

By AFP
February 03, 2021

PARIS: More than 100 million Covid-19 vaccines have been given around the world, an AFP tally from official sources found on Tuesday.

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 percent 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 percent 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 percent) 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 Organisation lamenting that "rich countries are rolling out vaccines while least-developed 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.

The first deliveries of the WHO’s Covax scheme to share shots more fairly are due begin this month. So far only Guinea has benefited, with only a few dozen given in a pilot trial. There are currently seven vaccines circulating around the world, all designed to be given in two doses.

The vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech (US-German) and Moderna (US) are dominant in North America, Europe, Israel and the Gulf. Britain’s AstraZeneca-Oxford is used in much of the UK and India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Morocco, and is soon to be rolled out in Europe.

India also uses a homegrown vaccine produced by Bharat Biotech. Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has been rolled out in Russia, Argentina, Algeria, Belarus and Serbia. China’s Sinopharm jabs are being administered in China, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Serbia the Seychelles and Jordan, while Indonesia and Turkey are using China’s Sinovac vaccine.

China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines and Russia’s Sputnik V jab have yet to be fully approved by either Beijing or Moscow’s health authorities.Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch on Tuesday urged support for aid groups to ensure "equitable" distribution of coronavirus vaccines across all of war-torn Syria, warning against any discriminatory approach by Damascus.

"Those supplying vaccines for Syria should do everything in their power to ensure that... (they) reach those most vulnerable no matter where they are in the country," HRW researcher Sara Kayyali said.

"The Syrian government has never been shy about withholding healthcare as a weapon of war, but playing this game with the vaccine undermines the global effort to control the pandemic."

"International aid groups should have support to secure the widest and most equitable distribution... including (in) all areas controlled by different groups," the rights organisation said. The New York-based group made the call following restrictions to aid deliveries to the country’s rebel-held northwest and Kurdish-held northeast Syria in recent years, under pressure from Damascus’ ally Moscow at the UN Security Council.

Aid can only enter northwest Syria from a single border crossing from Turkey, which backs rebels in that area, while aid to northeast Syria now needs to transit through Damascus, where HRW says authorities often withhold or delay permission.

In a related development, Tributes flooded in from across the UK on Tuesday following the death of Captain Sir Tom Moore, the 100-year-old military veteran who won British hearts with his fundraising during the pandemic.

Moore, who raised nearly £33 million ($45 million, 37 million euros) for health service charities, died in hospital in southern England on Tuesday morning after testing positive for coronavirus last week.

His daughters, Hannah Ingram-Moore and Lucy Teixeira, said the last year of his life, when he shot to international fame for his selfless efforts, had been "nothing short of remarkable".

"He was rejuvenated and experienced things he’d only ever dreamed of," they said in a statement, noting they had spent the last hours of his life reminiscing together.

"We shared laughter and tears together." Queen Elizabeth II, who awarded him a knighthood last year, sent a private message to his family.

"Her Majesty very much enjoyed meeting Captain Sir Tom and his family at Windsor last year. Her thoughts and those of the Royal Family are with them," it added.