More than 2 billion COVID-19 vaccines given worldwide

PARIS: More than two billion COVID-19 vaccines have been given across the world, according to an AFP tally on Thursday (Jun 3) drawn from official sources.

The milestone comes six months after the first vaccination campaigns against COVID-19 began.

At least 2,109,696,022 shots have been given in 215 countries and territories, according to the count from an AFP database taken at 9.15am (GMT).

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Israel, which has led the race from the start, is still out in front, with nearly six in 10 people there fully vaccinated.

It is followed by Canada (59 per cent of the population have had at least one jab), the United Kingdom (58.3 per cent), Chile (56.6 per cent) and the United States (51 per cent).

Six out of 10 of the injections have been administered in the world's three most populous countries - China (704.8 million doses), the US (296.9 million) and India (221 million).

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Nearly four out of 10 people in the European Union have had at least one shot, with Germany leading with 43.6 per cent, followed by Italy (40 per cent) and France and Spain on 39.4 per cent.

Only six countries in the world have not yet started vaccinating - North Korea, Haiti, Tanzania, Chad, Burundi an Eritrea.

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