With almost 29 percent of the population in the EU, only in Hungary have more people received a “booster”. The rapid pace with which rich countries provide their populations with third-party vaccinations has met with criticism. Because more people in the EU and the USA have now received a booster than have been vaccinated in the whole of Africa.
The World Health Organization (WHO) only appealed for more fairness in vaccine distribution on Thursday. As long as there are not enough vaccines available, priority must remain to offer everyone in the world a basic vaccination with one or two doses, said the chairman of the WHO vaccination council, Alejandro Cravioto, in Geneva. Experts such as the Austrian virologist Florian Krammer also recalled that a high level of vaccination could also slow down the development of new mutations. Because in people who become infected despite being vaccinated, the virus is likely to multiply more slowly than in those who have not been vaccinated.
The WHO actually wanted to vaccinate at least ten percent of the population in every country in the world by the end of September. But the goal has still not been achieved. 8.3 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide and more than half of the world’s population has already received at least one dose. As the data collected by the “Our World in Data” platform show, the figure in the poorest countries is just 6.6 percent.
Across Africa, less than eight percent have a completed vaccination. According to “Our World in Data”, 107 million people are fully vaccinated there. For comparison: In the USA and the European Union alone, 112 million people have already received their booster vaccinations (15 and 14 percent of the population, respectively). When it comes to booster vaccinations, Chile is at the forefront with 48 percent of the population, ahead of Iceland (47) and Israel (44). In Great Britain almost a third of the population (31 percent) received the booster, in Hungary over 29 percent and in Austria just under 29 percent. Within the EU, these two countries are ahead in terms of refreshments. In terms of overall vaccination coverage, however, Portugal (89 percent), Malta (84) and Spain (80 percent) are still ahead.
Source: Nachrichten
