US now dropping to lowest vaccination rate in G7

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The US has fallen to the bottom of a list of the world’s seven leading economies when it comes to vaccination against Covid, analysis has shown, in what is another warning sign for president Joe Biden.

According to figures from Our World In Data at the University of Oxford, the US has reported that 62.27 per cent of its population has now been vaccinated. The data includes all those with at least a single dose.

In Japan, where vaccinations were delayed for most of 2021, 63.34 per cent of the population has been vaccinated, which puts it ahead of the US among the G7 – a group of the world’s seven leading economies; Germany, Italy, France, Canada, the US and the UK.

The US had been in front of most of the G7 for months, thanks to a successful start to its vaccination rollout, before it began to fall behind.

In fact, only the United Kingdom had a more successful vaccination campaign than the US, figures from Our World In Data show, before other countries began to surpass it in June and July.

Between July and September, according to The New York Times, the rate of US vaccinations grew by 4 per cent, compared to 25 per cent in Japan – a country that has seen falling infections from Covid.

Analysts have pointed to an unexpectedly low enthusiasm for vaccines among certain segments of the US population, including young people and Republicans, for the US president failing to get 70 per cent of Americans vaccinated by 4 July — a target that had been set months earlier.

Canada currently leads the G7 in vaccinations, with 74.45 of its population vaccinated – a number that also puts it ahead of the rest of the world, according to Our World In Data.

It comes just days after Mr Biden announced a vaccine mandate for firms with employees of 100 or more, in an effort to force some Americans to get vaccinated – and to stop a further surge in infections of the Delta variant of Covid.