COVID-19 Vaccination Rates by Country | Best Countries

That progress has been uneven, with stark disparities among countries of different income levels – despite global partnerships like COVAX trying to ensure vaccines reach lower-income countries. According to Our World in Data, an online publication whose research team is based at the University of Oxford, as of May 8, about 80% of people in high-income countries had received at least one vaccine dose compared to only 16% of those in low-income countries.

High-income countries had given a first dose to a majority of their populations by early July 2021. During that same time, low-income countries had barely passed 1%. Nearly a year later, that same scenario is repeating itself for booster doses: As of May 8, 48% of people in high-income countries had received a booster dose, compared to only 0.7% of those in low-income countries.

Our World in Data also publishes data on COVID-19 fatality rates, in which low-income countries also experience worse outcomes. As of May 8, the average case fatality rate over seven days was 2.4% in low-income countries, compared to 0.8% in high-income countries.