As COVID-19 vaccination efforts continue here in North America, how exactly are we doing relative to the rest of the world? It turns out, actually pretty well. North America has now reached approximately 60% of its population vaccinated, followed closely by Europe at 48.5% of its population. Surprisingly, the Asia-Pacific region has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the world. Analysts report that skepticism over the newly developed vaccines seems to be the common reason for hesitance everywhere, but even more so in Asia where fairly effective containment in the very early stages of the Covid-19 crisis seems to have led to a lower current sense of urgency. Africa, at less than 5%, is reportedly stymied by a triple-whammy of suspicious populations, under-developed distribution networks and widespread shortages of vaccines. (Chart from CNBC)
Jeffrey Cerny