One Nation Leads Way on Vaccinations

Of all the nations that have begun vaccinating citizens with a COVID vaccine, Israel is easily outpacing the rest in terms of percentages. The nation of 9 million has vaccinated more than 10% of its population and aims to reach the 25% mark by the end of January, reports the New York Times and NPR. Stats compiled from global tracking site Our World in Data show that Israel has vaccinated 11.55 per 100 people, notes the BBC. That's well ahead of second-place Bahrain (3.49) and the UK (1.47). The US, which has doled out more vaccinations than Israel in terms of sheer numbers, is fourth on the per-capita list at 0.84.

“It’s quite an astonishing story,” a member of Israel's national advisory team tells the Times. A number of factors is thought to be at play: Israel negotiated with drug manufacturers early to get ample supplies, it has made use of its digitized health system to effectively get the word out to patients, and skepticism about the vaccine that has plagued other nations does not seem prevalent in Israel. NPR points out that while Israel is aggressively inoculating its citizens, the shots are not being provided to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. That has Palestinian officials "scrambling" to secure their own supplies, according to the outlet. (More coronavirus vaccine stories.)