The U.S. has slipped in the international COVID-19 vaccine rankings to 55th place, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University vaccine tracker. And while it’s good that other countries have massively scaled up their vaccination efforts in 2021, other nations are leaving the U.S. in the dust.
The U.S. has fully vaccinated just 59.44% of its entire population against COVID-19, leaving it at 55th place in the world. The U.S. was previously ranked 40th back in September, and 18th in July. And other western countries like Germany, which has a vocal anti-vaxxer community, have slipped as well. Germany went from 22nd best vaccination rate in the world back in July to 33rd ranked today.
Israel is another example of a country that started out strong in early 2021 but saw a dramatic drop-off in COVID-19 vaccinations. Israel was ranked 10th in the world with a vaccination rate of about 58% in July but has since dropped to 44th place with a vaccination rate of 63.55% today.
Meanwhile, some countries that had a bad start to COVID-19 vaccination rates in the first half of 2021 have surpassed the U.S. in recent months. Australia went from a COVID-19 vaccination rate of just 12.18% in mid-July to a whopping 70.32% today. And Japan, which was ranked 46th in the world as recently as September with a roughly 50% vaccination rate has climbed to 18th place with a vaccination rate of 74.91% today.
The list below shows the percentage of each country’s population that’s been vaccinated, based on data from Johns Hopkins University. Please note that the percentages are for the entire population, not the percentage of the population currently eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccination based on local health guidance.
Most countries around the world are not yet vaccinating young kids, which means that vaccination rates can be much higher in some of these countries if you only include people 12 years and older or 16 years and older, depending on the guidelines in a given country. Cuba, as one example, started last month vaccinating kids as young as two years old, while the U.S. just started vaccinating those five and older. But countries like Spain and Italy are only vaccinating kids 12 years old and up right now.
- United Arab Emirates – 90.19%
- Portugal – 86.69%
- Malta – 85.63%
- Chile – 82.91%
- Singapore – 82.47%
- Cambodia – 80.06%
- Spain – 79.55%
- Seychelles – 78.66%
- Qatar – 78.33%
- Malaysia – 77.56%
- Iceland – 77.37%
- China – 76.73%
- Canada – 76.23%
- Ireland – 76.16%
- Uruguay – 76.10%
- Denmark – 76.07%
- Belgium – 75.00%
- Japan – 74.91%
- Bhutan – 73.36%
- Italy – 72.29%
- Netherlands – 72.53%
- Cuba – 71.81%
- Finland – 71.77%
- Norway – 70.53%
- Australia – 70.32%
- Bahrain – 69.95%
- New Zealand – 69.22%
- France – 69.02%
- United Kingdom – 69.81%
- Maldives – 67.91%
- Mauritius – 67.80%
- Sweden – 67.72%
- Germany – 67.53%
- Luxembourg – 67.50%
- Brunei – 67.42%
- Mongolia – 66.49%
- San Marino – 65.95%
- Switzerland – 65.42%
- Liechtenstein – 65.16%
- Austria – 64.59%
- Andorra – 64.21%
- Saudi Arabia – 64.13%
- Fiji – 63.64%
- Israel – 63.55%
- Lithuania – 62.75%
- Sri Lanka – 62.48%
- El Salvador – 61.47%
- Morocco – 61.02%
- Argentina – 60.53%
- Greece – 60.32%
- Monaco – 59.82%
- Brazil – 59.80%
- Ecuador – 59.54%
- Turkey – 59.44%
- United States – 59.44%
- Hungary – 59.05%
- Estonia – 58.28%
- Czechia – 57.96%
- Costa Rica – 57.90%
- Latvia – 57.79%
The U.S. government is struggling to convince Americans that vaccination is the only way to end the pandemic, with Republicans turning COVID-19 into a political issue. Just 9% of Democrats say they probably or definitely won’t get the covid-19 vaccine, while a stunning 38% of Republicans say the same thing, according to the latest polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which took place in mid-October.
The U.S. is averaging about 83,000 new cases per day and 1,113 daily deaths, according to the New York Times, with the vast majority of serious illness among those who are unvaccinated. While so-called break-through cases still happen among people vaccinated against COVID-19, you’re much less likely to get seriously sick or die if you’ve gotten vaccinated.
If you’re an American who hasn’t been vaccinated against COVID-19, there’s still plenty of free vaccine available at your local pharmacy. You can see a list of pharmacies at the CDC’s website or just walk into your nearest one. They almost certainly have a shot waiting for you. It’s really easy and you won’t regret it. We promise.