Tracking the Vaccinations: Week 5

The data set continues to be drawn from Our World in Data and is based on CDC statistics for the US.

Globally

The US has administered 50 million doses since January 1. 

Israel still leads with 70% of their population vaccinated with at least one dose, and they may be approaching herd immunity. Of course, if they want to travel, that might continue to be a problem. The US and China continue to vaccinate their populations at about the same rate, but size matters. The US has given at least one dose to 15.3% of its population, China only 2.82%. Globally 2.2% - for the world travelers among us, at this rate, 50% of the world will be vaccinated by 2027 – start making those travel plans.  

Herd immunity in the US

The US improved by 1.4% to 2% being fully vaccinated. At this rate, we achieve herd immunity in 9.5 months, Merry Christmas! That is 8 months less than last week’s rate. 

For those seeing the cup half full - it seems that we are hitting our stride in terms of daily vaccinations. For those among the half-empty crowd, there is little increase in daily vaccinations. 

Vaccine Operations and Utilization

We are currently vaccinating 1.55 million individuals a day—350,000 more a day than last week. But only about 0.5% of the population a day. You can choose the number that makes you feel best.

We still hear the political types demanding more vaccines. Hopefully, the J&J vaccine will be approved in the next few weeks. As with vaccinations per day, there is little change in our utilization.

The problem is that we don’t know whether we are holding back supplies or just not vaccinating at peak efficiency. My vote is we are not vaccinating efficiently. What do you think? Neighborhood pharmacies are scheduled to come online in the next few weeks. We will follow up then.