COVID-19 Vaccine Update – Vaccination Rates and the Road Ahead

U.S Vaccination Rates

Sentiment towards the available COVID-19 vaccines has been mixed across the U.S.

Over the weekend there were reports of frontline healthcare workers refusing the vaccine. The numbers refusing are far from small, with some reports indicating that as many as 80% are refusing the vaccine in some centers.

The refusal to receive the vaccine comes as the U.S continues to fight an uphill battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Bloomberg, the U.S has administered 8.02m doses of the vaccine since 14^th December. To-date. at least 272,429 recipients have completed the 2-dose regimen.

In all reality, however, the number of vaccinations is low relative to the number of distributed shots.

At the time of writing, Bloomberg reported that 36% of the shots distributed to states have been administered.

Having achieved the target distribution of 20 million doses by the early part of this month, the next goal must be to ramp up the vaccination rate.

At the time of writing, Nevada had the lowest vaccination rate at 23.8%, with Connecticut the highest at 71.8%.

Looking at a number of the more adversely affected states, the number of vaccinations administered are just not enough.

California and Florida had reported vaccination rates of just 31.7% and 44.0%, with New York at 45.9%.

For a full state-by-state breakdown of vaccination rates, please click here.

Concerns over the speed of availability of the vaccine has led to skepticism and an unwillingness to vaccinate in the U.S.

This is in spite of the continued spike in new COVID-19 cases across the U.S.

Global Vaccination Rates

On a global basis, Bloomberg has reported that a total of 25,839,924 vaccines have been administered as at 10^th January.

Per 100 people, the U.S has vaccinated 2.44 doses per 100 people.

Elsewhere, the numbers do vary significantly.

Across the EU, number of vaccines administered are particularly disappointing when considering the reintroduction of lockdown measures.

France has reportedly administered just 93,000 doses, which translates to 0.14 per 100 people.

Germany and Spain have done marginally better, with 0.64 and 0.60 vaccine doses administered per 100.

Leading the 4-most adversely affected, however, is Italy, with 1.04 doses administered per 100 people.

Looking at the UK, 2,000,000 doses have been administered, which is equivalent to 2.99 doses per 100 people.

From the weekend, news hit the wires that the UK government plans to open mass vaccination centers in England to ramp up the daily vaccination rate.

This does bode well for Britain and its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Looking further east, Israel leads the charge, by doses per 100 people, in the fight against the pandemic. As at 10^th January, Israel had administered 20.08 doses per 100 people, translating to 1,817,000 doses.

The U.A.E came a distant 2^nd, with 10.11 doses per 100 people.

Bahrain was also a front runner, with 6.01 doses administered per 100 people, though the population size is significant smaller.

Figures were not available for Brazil and India that sit behind the U.S as the worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Economic Recovery

In terms of nations bringing an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, once vaccination rates exceed infection rates, we can expect economies to begin reopening.

Looking at the global numbers, we continue to expect marked divergence in economic recoveries.

Vaccination rates across some advanced economies remain significantly low, suggesting longer than expected containment measures.

The longer that governments need to maintain containment measures, the greater the economic fallout.

This suggests that EU member states may well lag the U.S, the UK, and parts of the Middle East.

We will need more figures, however, to get a fuller picture. From Asia, China’s low vaccination rate of just 0.64 per 100 people, as at 8^th January, has not impeded the economic recovery.

China is an anomaly, however, with the government having managed to curb COVID-19 infection rates.

This is not the same story for the U.S, the UK, the EU, and other parts of the world.

We would therefore need to see a marked increase in vaccination rates across the the U.S and the EU at a minimum to support a sharper global economic recovery.

The Latest COVID-19 Numbers

At the time of writing, there were a total of 90,693,444 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,943,171 related deaths.

By geography, the U.S had reported 22,917,334 cases, with India reporting 10,467,431 cases.

Over the weekend, the U.S hit another record high number of new cases. On Saturday, the U.S had reported 278,920 new cases, which sits well above the national daily vaccination rate.

Brazil reported the 3^rd highest, with 8,105,790 cases, followed by Russia (3,401,954) and the UK (3,072,349).

France (2,783,256), Italy (2,276,491), Spain (2,050,360), and Germany (1,929,353) reported a combined 9,039,460 cases.

Looking Ahead

As governments look to ramp up vaccination rates, availability of doses will become a factor.

At present, the UK is one of few nations that has access to AstraZeneca, BioNTech/Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc.’s vaccines.

For the EU, approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine may be pivotal in its fight against the COVID-19 vaccine.

Other parts of the world have begun to accept China’s COVID-19 vaccines, while waiting on delivery AstraZeneca, BioNTech/Pfizer Inc., and Moderna Inc.

Some governments were too slow in placing orders, resulting in lengthy lead times.

The number of doses that China’s two vaccine producers will be able to manufacture are low, however.

Sinovac will reportedly be able to produce just 300 million doses per year. Sinopharm, by contrast, is looking to produce more than 1 billion doses this year.

With the Chinese government having pledged to support Africa and LatAm, more is needed, however.

It, therefore, becomes all the more essential that a 1 dose vaccine is made available. This would ease manufacturing capacity pressures and materially increase the number of people protected from the coronavirus.

Johnson & Johnson

As things stand, Johnson & Johnson remains the front runner in delivering a much-needed single dose vaccine.

According to recent reports, the vaccine could be available as early as next month.

Safety, efficacy, and production capacity will be key considerations along with cost. For nations lagging behind in the fight against the pandemic, a single dose vaccine would certainly ease the pain.