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This chart shows the primary vaccine coverage ratio across the World Bank income classification. It is calculated as the number of primary doses administered divided by the total population. Full coverage is achieved at 200 primary doses per 100 people.
Note that primary doses are the doses administered as per the primary (first) vaccination cycle, which excludes boosters. We distinguish from boosters to be able to compare vaccination progress across countries and country groups during the first round of vaccinations.
The midpoints of the bubbles represent country observations of the primary vaccine coverage ratio. Also shown are the weighted group averages for the primary vaccine coverage ratio of each group, which are represented by a horizontal line.
The size of the bubbles in the chart reflects the total population size. The large green bubble among UMICs is China. The large blue bubble among LMICs is India. Note that the global population as per the 2021 medium-variant scenario of World Population Prospects is estimated at 7.9 billion and is distributed as follows across the World Bank income classification:
0.7 billion in LICs.
There is one more twist. The vaccine coverage ratio for primary doses represents a new way of assessing global vaccination progress that yields consistent comparisons across countries that are invariant to the mix of vaccines used. The method employed is to convert all primary doses administered into double-dose equivalents. That means that doses belonging to 1-dose protocols are multiplied by 2 whereas doses belonging to 3-dose protocols are multiplied by 2/3. With this adjustment, we achieve 200 as the full coverage milestone for primary vaccinations.
For further details on the adjustment method, check out this post and the background note below on double-dose equivalents and other aspects such as the World Bank income classification and the universe of countries.
