COVID-19 Vaccines Also Show "Rich Get Richer, Poor Get Poorer"... Wealthy Countries Vaccinate 25 Times Faster Than Poor Countries

U.S. President Joe Biden is receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine publicly in December last year when he was president-elect. [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] An analysis has revealed that the speed of COVID-19 vaccination in wealthy countries is 25 times faster than in poor countries, as vaccine supplies have been concentrated in affluent nations.

Bloomberg News reported on the 8th (local time) that this result came from its own analysis of 726 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered across 154 countries.

According to Bloomberg News, 40% of the vaccines administered worldwide so far have been given in the 27 economically advanced countries. These include the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, accounting for 11.1% of the global population.

In contrast, only 1.6% of the vaccines administered worldwide have been supplied to the 23 economically disadvantaged countries, which also represent 11.1% of the global population. These countries include Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, among others. In other words, the vaccination speed in wealthy countries is 25 times that of poor countries.

In particular, vaccine distribution on the African continent has been the slowest. Among the 54 African countries, only three have vaccination rates exceeding 1%, and 20 countries have yet to start vaccinations.

Bloomberg analyzed that this trend continues as developed countries have pre-purchased billions of vaccine doses, securing quantities several times their own populations.

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