Who is leading Europe's vaccination race?
Who is leading Europe's vaccination race? Copyright Credit: AP

COVID vaccine: Who in Europe is leading the race to herd immunity?

By Chris Harris
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With a fresh wave of COVID infections hitting Europe, which country is best prepared?

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With indications that a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections is sweeping parts of Europe, here's a look at the countries closest to achieving herd immunity.

The figures show the percentage of the whole population -- rather than just the adult population -- that is fully vaccinated.

Rather than look at the percentage of the population fully vaccinated, this map looks at COVID vaccinations per 100 people.

Are richer countries winning the vaccine race?

There have been claims the COVID jab rollout is seeing "vaccine apartheid" develop in parts of the world.

Earlier this year, the World Health Organization said nine-in-10 coronavirus vaccinations had been in richer countries.

To see what was happening in Europe, we compared a country's GDP per capita against the number of vaccines administered per 100 people.

A handful of relatively poorer countries -- by European Union standards -- began vaccinating later and have covered fewer people. The list includes nations such as Ukraine, Moldova, Albania, Montenegro and Belarus.

Which group was vaccinated first?

Another interesting indicator is which group of people each country chose to give the first COVID-19 vaccine to.

Countries in our study are split equally between healthcare professionals and the elderly.

There is also a handful of countries, like Turkey, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria that chose to give it to politicians first. In some instances, this could be a way of trying to allay the fears of a vaccine-sceptic population.

About this data

The data is pulled together from official government sources and media reports.

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