More than four billion doses of anti-Covid vaccines have been administered worldwide, according to a count made on Tuesday.
Global injections have slowed slightly: this fourth billion was reached in 30 days, while it took only 26 days to reach the previous one.
The first and second billion were reached in about 140 and 40 days, respectively.
Four out of ten doses administered (1.6 billion) were administered in China.
India (451 million) and the United States (343 million) complete the podium in absolute terms.
But compared to the population, among countries of more than a million inhabitants, it is in the Middle East that the champion of vaccination is to be found: the United Arab Emirates.
They administered 168 doses, first and second, per 100 inhabitants.
Uruguay (137) and Bahrain (134) come second and third.
Half of the population immunized in Europe and the United States
The Emirates are approaching 70% of the population fully vaccinated, Uruguay and Bahrain exceed 60%.
Next in the lead pack are Qatar, Chile and Canada (129 doses per 100 inhabitants), Israel (128), Singapore (125), the United Kingdom, Mongolia and Denmark (124), as well as Belgium (121).
These countries more or less widely exceed 50% of the population fully vaccinated (between 52% and 63%).
China (111), the United States (104) and the European Union (103) are not far away.
The United States and the EU have fully immunized nearly half of their population, while China is not reporting this figure.
While most poor countries have now started to vaccinate, mainly thanks to the Covax mechanism (WHO, Gavi alliance and Cepi coalition) and recently thanks to donations of unused doses by rich countries, anti-Covid vaccination remains very unequal: “high-income” countries (as defined by the World Bank) administered an average of 97 doses per 100 inhabitants, compared with only 1.6 doses in “low-income” countries.
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On average, 52 doses were injected per 100 inhabitants of the planet.
Four countries have still not started their campaign: Burundi, Eritrea, Haiti and North Korea.
Despite the controversies it has been the subject of, the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine, administered in 79% of the countries and territories that vaccinate (at least 171 out of 217), is the most widely distributed in the world.