The world has hit a huge milestone of 10 billion Covid-19 vaccinations around the world. The world population is around 7 billion, but this number counts the amount of doses per person, meaning more than half of the population is vaccinated. Interestingly, the majority of vaccinations are occurring in highly wealthy countries, revealing a stark contrast in the accessibility of vaccines for less fortunate nations. According to Our World in Data, only 9.8% of people living in underdeveloped countries have had their first Covid vaccination dose, unlike wealthy countries such as Israel which has offered all three Covid-19 vaccines and are even offering a fourth. The World Health Organization has been warning that  leaving major areas of the world unvaccinated will result in new Covid variants, those of which could be immune to the vaccine already administered.

Since the Coronavirus vaccine emerged mid-year 2021, about 63% of the world’s population has received their first dose, Our World in Data announces From when Covid started, 10 billion vaccines have been administered globally, including second and third doses. An article from Nature says researchers warned last year when the first billion doses of the vaccine were administered that low-income countries have huge inequities in access. Now, only 5.5% of people in these nations are fully vaccinated. Regardless, global cooperation of vaccinations has been significant.

A new study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report shows that people in the LGBTQ+ community have higher vaccination rates than others. According to the study, “Gay or lesbian adults also were more likely to have confidence in the safety of the vaccine,” with an astounding 76.3% of LGBTQ+ individuals being very confident, compared to 64% of heterosexual adults. The  Kaiser Family Foundation also made an analysis that showed 82% of LGBTQ+ people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, as to 66% of non-LGBT adults. The CDC released information on a past survey that displayed many LGBTQ+ people are politically liberal, and live in blue states with higher vaccination rates. 

Going into our third year of Covid, the people in this world have taken individual steps to better their health by getting vaccinated, which greatly reduces the number of hospitalizations and deaths. People who prefer to not get vaccinated risk more variants coming forth, which doesn’t help anyone. Mask mandates are also expiring all over the country, and the government has no plans to extend them.