Coronavirus and vaccines

As the days go by, more and more people are being vaccinated against coronavirus. This article is going to share with you the top and bottom ten vaccinated countries around the world, along with information about vaccines and the coronavirus.

ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS

The coronavirus epidemic started in December 2019. However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared it a pandemic three months later in March 2020. The coronavirus started in a Chinese market and the virus spread to more and more countries, eventually becoming the first pandemic since the H1N1 influenza pandemic. Coronavirus is a member of the coronavirus family. Other members include SARS and MERS. Symptoms include dry coughs and breathing difficulties. Fewer children than adults have died or had severe symptoms of coronavirus. This doesn’t mean children can’t die of coronavirus

WHY VACCINES ARE IMPORTANT

Vaccines reduce the chance of getting coronavirus. They do not completely protect you but they help your immune system defeat the virus when it attacks. If you have the vaccine, it is not necessary to wear masks anymore. For the vaccine to be effective, you need to have taken two doses of it. Now, different companies have made their own vaccines.

HERD IMMUNITY

Herd immunity is when too many people in a community are vaccinated and become immune, thereby reducing the spread of disease.

VACCINE EQUITY

For vaccines to make a difference in the fight against coronavirus, herd immunity needs to be present. But for herd immunity to take place, you need vaccine equity. Vaccine equity is when every city or village in any state, in any country, in any continent has vaccines. Vaccine equity is crucial for herd immunity, which in turn is crucial in the fight against coronavirus.

Top 10 vaccinated countries

Color code
Blue: China
Red: USA
Yellow: India
Green: Brazil
Orange: UK
Black: Germany
Blue: France
Pink: Turkey
Brown: Russia
Mexico: Purple

China, India, and the US are the only countries that have more than 100,000,000 vaccinations. Together, they have more vaccinations than the rest of the top ten combined. China has a lot more than the US with over 750,000 vaccinations. As you can see, there are no African countries in the top ten.

BOTTOM TEN VACCINATED COUNTRIES

As this chart shows, only two of the bottom ten vaccinated countries are not African, whereas no African countries are in the top ten. Africa needs more people vaccinated. Coming out on the conversation soon: Why Africa has very few vaccinations compared to the rest of the world.

Now the only question is why Papua New Guinea and Greenland have less than a hundred thousand vaccinations. This is because of population. Imagine a country with only one person living in it and another country with 1,000 people in it. The country with 1,000 people could have vaccinated half its population and the country with one person would have vaccinated one person. But the country with one person could have vaccinated more people than the country with 1,00 people but there aren’t enough people to make that happen.

The numbers in this article are based on present figures — but they are subject to change.

Ikechukwu Ekeanyanwu Ogala is a seven-year-old budding writer with a keen interest in science. He can be reached via [email protected]