While some countries have not launched their vaccination campaign against Covid-19, others today are at the gates of collective immunity, just like Israel. RFI dedicates a special day to vaccination around the world on Monday 19 April.
They will be able to return from May 23 on the beaches of Tel Aviv. Tourists will soon be able to re-enter Israeli territory. The consequence of the vaccination campaign started in December last year and which made it possible to control the pandemic locally. Israel would now be close to the level of collective immunity as more than 60% of the population is fully vaccinated.
A result obtained thanks to massive orders for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. “Israel secured all the doses they needed from the beginning. We do not officially know how much this costs the country, but the press mentions contracts at double the market price, explains Sami Boukhelifa, RFI’s permanent special envoy to Israel.
In Europe, the UK is now a good student. After minimizing the danger with Covid-19, Boris Johnson carried out an extensive vaccination campaign, mainly with the vaccine developed by the Oxford-AstraZeneca partnership. London is also accused by the European Union of favoring its own campaign by blocking the export of vaccines produced on its land. Fees rebutted by Boris Johnson.
Britain is now far ahead of the countries of the European Union, but the numbers are mixed. While almost 50% of Britons have actually received a first dose of vaccine, the number of fully vaccinated people is only 11.3%, according to the website Our World in Data.
The Chilean example
Against Great Britain, Chile has a much higher score with more than 25% of the Chilean population now fully vaccinated. This makes Chile the second most vaccinated country in the world, after Israel. The authorities now hope to be able to vaccinate 80% of the population by the summer.
This “Chilean strategy” is based in particular on the diversity of vaccine providers. The country administers the vaccines Sinovac and Pfizer-BioNTechet have signed agreements with AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Discussions are also underway with Russia (Sputnik V) and the Chinese company CanSino Biologics (Convidecia).
A situation that does not prevent Chile from facing a sharp increase in pollution in recent weeks, especially among the youngest who have not yet benefited from the vaccination campaign.
Increasing sources of vaccine supply are also Hungary’s strategy. The country, which has the highest mortality rate in the world, behind the Czech Republic, has shrunk into the European Union by unilaterally administering Russian and Chinese vaccines (Sinopharm). Budapest has also given the green light to a second Chinese vaccine, Convidecia. Vaccines that have not been approved by the European Medicines Agency.
The United States vaccinates at a very high rate
Despite the closure of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the United States, for its part, continues to accelerate its vaccination campaign, especially with the help of vaccine drums installed throughout the United States: large parking lots, arenas, amusement parks, university campuses, etc. The country vaccinates an average of three million injections per day and announces that it will offer vaccination to all adults from Monday 19 April.
The US is now seeing the beginning of a mini-economic boom, with the International Monetary Fund indicating that the world’s largest economy will take the lead this year thanks to the success of the vaccine campaign. The US situation is in contrast to the situation in the countries of the European Union where the third wave of the epidemic is hampering the economic recovery.
