As more and more people receive the COVID-19 vaccine, there are even more questions about what the future of our world will look like.
Questions regarding the effectiveness and the science behind the COVID-19 vaccine are emerging in increasingly damaging ways. Here’s a breakdown on how the vaccine is being rolled out all over the world.
US and UK
Both the United States and United Kingdom are positioned to be vaccinating the most people currently. With both countries investing heavily in buying the vaccine, the speed of the rollout is augmenting with time. There is, however, a new debate about which vaccine is most effective, and if it matters who gets what, particularly between Modern and Pfizer. Pfizer is the choice of many residing in the US, yet research shows that neither is more effective, unless you meet certain age requirements or have pre-existing conditions. It’s likely that we’ll see many vaccines enter the market, therefore dissolving this debate.
Canada
A country which was expected to be first in line for the COVID-19 vaccine, is now struggling to increase its supply. The Canadian government was quick to buy vaccines, as early as April 2020, but was not prioritized by manufacturers once the vaccine started to be administered. Canada has only vaccinated about 3% of the population thus far, an alarming rate considering the size of the country and its population of senior citizens.
Serbia
Serbia is high on the list of vaccine receiving countries. Already, it has established an efficient system for administering the vaccine and has access to Pfizer, SinoPharm, and Sputnik V.
Photo by Daniel Schludi on UnsplashIndia
Though India has a massive population, its vaccine rollout is progressing. Adar Poonawalla is the man behind the curtain and is nearly producing 2.5 million vaccines a day to supply to the Indian government and various other countries. India, though very proactive logistically, is facing difficulties in providing the vaccines to citizens as the country has a very rural population and is facing difficulty in finding manufacturers. India, at this time, expects to be fully covered by the end of 2022 but is hoping to see greater coverage towards the end of 2021.
Africa
Africa, one of the main locations used for testing the vaccine before it was finalized, is expected to be mostly covered by early 2023. In particular, South Africa was set to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine but this process was halted after discovering that the vaccine was relatively ineffective for mild to medium coronavirus cases.
South Korea
Thus far, South Korea’s rollout is going as per schedule. South Korea is prioritizing its senior citizen population and has been using public spaces converted to vaccine sites to get the job done. South Korea was praised just a few months ago for its strict efforts to fight COVID-19. Now as the vaccine rolls out, citizens are hoping for an effective result.
China
China’s vaccine plan is not fully clear to outside countries but we do know that citizens will primarily be receiving SinoPharm, which has about an 80% effective rate and is being administered in bulk right now. Certain groups of people, such as pregnant women, are not allowed to take the vaccine in order to avoid complications. China, however, is expecting a swift rollout, at least for now, as they’ve been relatively COVID-free since summer 2020.
Mexico
Mexico has hit a snag in its vaccination distribution plan. Unfortunately, the country in general has not been doing well as of late, with more people infected than ever just a month and a half into 2021. Pfzier is the main vaccine supplier, as of right now, but is only supplying about 50% of the projected amount, due to a full factory reconstruction that is prohibiting them from producing the 1.5 million vaccines it promised Mexico months ago. Yet, the country has big plans to buy vaccines from multiple suppliers, including Sputnik V and AstraZeneca. Mexico has been praised for its attempt to diversify investments and continued motivation in getting the vaccine for all citizens.
