The Era of 100 Million COVID-19 Cases... The End of the Tunnel Is Still Far Away

More than 1 Infection per 100 People
Vaccine Supply Severely Insufficient

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Hyun-ui Cho and Suhwan Kim] The global cumulative number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has surpassed 100 million. This means that more than one out of every 100 people worldwide has been infected with COVID-19 at some point. However, with new variant viruses emerging around the world and slow progress in vaccination, it is impossible to predict when the war against COVID-19 will end.

According to the international statistics site Worldometer, as of 9 a.m. on the 25th, the total number of confirmed cases worldwide was 100,245,587. Deaths have also approached 2.15 million. The Washington Post reported that COVID-19 has joined the list of the top 10 deadliest infectious diseases in human history, alongside the Spanish flu and the Black Death.

With new variant viruses emerging that have about 1.5 times the transmissibility of the original virus, the recent daily average of new confirmed cases has been between 600,000 and 700,000. While it is difficult to contain the spread of variants originating from the UK and South Africa, new variants from Brazil and the United States have also appeared, and vaccination progress remains slow.

According to the statistics site Our World in Data, as of this day, 66.33 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. This accounts for 0.86% of the global population, less than one person per 100. Considering that most COVID-19 vaccines such as Moderna, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca require two doses, the actual global vaccination rate is likely even lower.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

"No vaccines" cries heard everywhere... Export restrictions under consideration

Vaccination has been underway in about 60 countries since last month, starting with the UK, but due to shortages in supply, inadequate vaccination systems, and vaccine hesitancy, the pace is far too slow to curb the spread. In particular, the European Union (EU), which aims to vaccinate 70% of adults by this summer, is securing vaccine supplies for all member countries at once and distributing them based on population ratios, but individual member states are experiencing shortages.

EU officials reportedly met with AstraZeneca executives on this day to urge the company to supply vaccines according to the originally planned schedule, according to major foreign media. Earlier, on the 22nd, AstraZeneca announced that the initial supply of vaccines to the EU (31 million doses) would be reduced by 61% compared to the expected supply (80 million doses).

The EU is also considering restricting exports of vaccines produced within member countries. It is known that the EU is discussing a ‘transparency mechanism’ that would require prior notification when vaccines produced at Pfizer and AstraZeneca manufacturing facilities in Belgium and other locations are exported to countries outside Europe.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.