Apr 21st 2021
THE COVID-19 pandemic has upended the lives of billions of people since it struck the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. Official tallies reckon that it has caused infections and led to the deaths of people. The true toll may be higher still. Vaccines to combat SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease, have been developed in record time. So far countries have mass-vaccination programmes underway and together they have administered about jabs. Our global covid-19 data tracker is updated around the clock with the latest figures.
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Vaccination
Vaccinations by region
Since the first inoculation, in Britain on December 8th, mass-vaccination programmes have become active in every continent of the world. Still, countries have not yet begun vaccinating, according to data from Our World in Data, a website. So far of the world’s population aged 12 and over have received one dose of a covid-19 vaccine.
Doses ordered by country
In total, countries have ordered about vaccine doses from manufacturers to be delivered during 2021 (including vaccines not yet approved for use) according to a tally by Airfinity, a life-sciences data company. Although some manufacturers may face delays or disruptions because of safety reviews, that would mean there would be enough for shots for each of the world’s 6.2bn people aged 12 and over. However, these doses are not shared equally. has signed contracts for enough jabs to give every person aged 12 and above doses each, whereas countries are expecting to receive just doses, on average.
Doses by vaccine manufacturer and recipient
Many of the vaccines intended for poor and lower-middle-income countries will come from an international programme called COVAX. This year it plans to distribute as many as doses to 91 countries that would otherwise struggle to have secured them. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is the most widely-ordered vaccine. AstraZeneca has promised doses to different countries and organisations this year but has faced production delays and concerns that its vaccine causes rare blood clots. So far vaccines producing a total of doses have received regulatory approval for use in the countries for which they have been ordered.
First doses administered by country
A total of countries have now given first doses to more than half of their population aged 12 and over. leads the way to herd immunity, having given first doses to of people, although has delivered the most second doses. is currently vaccinating the fastest. In the past week it has given shots to of people aged 12 and above.
Doses administered by country
Cases and deaths
Confirmed cases by region
Epidemiologists estimate that perhaps three-quarters of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 show no symptoms. The quality of testing regimes varies enormously across the world. Tanzania has not reported a single case since May 2020 simply because it has not tested anyone. That makes it tricky to compare caseloads across countries. Nonetheless the trends can be informative. Cases have been rising fastest over the past seven days in.
Confirmed deaths by region
Cases can be hidden from view, but deaths are easier to detect (even though reporting standards for these also vary). Fully of the total global deaths from covid-19 have taken place in. Deaths over the past seven days are currently highest, per head of population, in.
Confirmed cases and deaths by country
Sources: Airfinity; Johns Hopkins University, CSSE; Our World In Data; United Nations; The Economist
To stay up to speed with The Economist‘s latest coverage of the pandemic, visit our coronavirus hub; register to receive our weekly newsletter, which has a special edition showcasing our coronavirus coverage; and follow our other data trackers showing excess deaths by country and the virus’s spread across Europe and America.
