The Uneven COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout

U.S. President Biden has set a goal for 70 percent of the world's population to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of 2022. Currently, 45 percent of the world's population has received the full amount of doses prescribed by the vaccination protocol, according to Our World in Data. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in September, Biden said: "To beat the pandemic here, we need to beat it everywhere. And I made and I'm keeping the promise that America will become the arsenal of vaccines as we were the arsenal for democracy during World War II."

After what has now been a year since the first person outside of clinical trials received a Covid vaccine, the global rollout is still a long way from reaching this target. As this infographic shows, it has also been uneven. The highest proportion of the population fully vaccinated is in South America, at 60 percent. Europe is close behind with 59 percent. Oceania, North America and Asia line up close behind, all above 50 percent as 2021 comes to a close. In Africa though, a mere 8 percent have been fully vaccinated.

This is not only disastrous for people in Africa, but also the rest of the world and the fight to curb the pandemic. As described in a recent release by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation: "The longer the world takes to deliver vaccine equity, the more we allow Covid-19 to mutate and become more dangerous. This new variant demonstrates that vaccine nationalism is a short-sighted approach that is self-defeating and puts us all at risk. It reinforces the reality, once again, that no one is safe until everyone is safe."

In summary: "We must do better."