Israel and the United States are no longer leading the world in the rate of vaccination of the population, the New York Times reported on Sunday. "67% of the American population received at least one dose by July 4," reads an article entitled "Israel and the United States have led the world in vaccines, now they are lagging behind."
The paper noted that based on data collected by the University of Oxford, the United States today is ironically in a position to lag behind the rest of the world even though it is logistically at an advantage. "There is resistance [to the vaccine] that remains high in some segments of the population, including sectors of the economy, including police and firefighters."
The paper also noted "other countries that have now led to faltering [in the vaccination campaign]". According to the Times, "Israel started its vaccination campaign early - on December 20 - and at lightning speed reached the rate of vaccination that actually reached all countries in the world, and it also started early in the booster operation, which was injected into half of the eligible population." But from here the momentum stopped, it was argued. "Today, with hesitation among Arabs, the Orthodox community, and young people, the country has only a 63% rate that they are fully vaccinated - lower than South Korea, Italy, and about 40 other countries," it said.
The article states that the "loss of the premiere" of Israel and the United States has cleared the stage for countries where the vaccination campaign has been carried out systematically and consistently over time. "Today, 87 percent of Portugal's residents are fully vaccinated.
This rate of immunization is second only to the situation in the United Arab Emirates, a much smaller country [from Portugal] where the rulers have much more extensive authority.
"Portugal has recently lifted almost all of Corona's restrictions."
The Times explains that, according to experts, the reason for the slowdown in the US can be traced to the "toxic situation in American politics", which receives a significant echo from sowing incorrect information on social networks and the lack of success in marketing messages from the US administration. "In most states, this is a very small group," John Schwarzberg, a public health expert at the University of California, told the paper. "This is not a new movement, but it has never been as vibrant as it is today."
The paper noted that unlike countries like France and Italy that have taken draconian measures to force immunization, and in Asian countries where these measures have been in place for a long time but had logistical problems, in the US and Israel in fact the only obstacle facing the population is the authorities' failure to persuade more people to get vaccinated. “Response to getting vaccinated is the only obstacle right now.
This is what caused the situation to go wrong compared to other states that have been able to solve the problems of supply and distribution of vaccines, ”quotes Dr. Liana Wen of George Washington University.
