The dash to vaccinate millions has turned the likes of Britain and the US from pandemic laggards into front runners. But not every successful country is finding sunlit uplands at the finish line.
The global vaccine race is on. A man is given his jab at a drive-through vaccination site, in Santiago, Chile. AP
Monday will be a red-letter day in Britain’s grim and often inept 14-month battle with the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 12, says University College London, the country will triumphantly cross the herd immunity threshold: 73.4 per cent of Britons will have had the virus or been vaccinated.
For all the manifold failings of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government in the past year, as Britain clocked up more than 127,000 coronavirus-related deaths and almost 4.4 million confirmed cases, this is a moment the country will savour.
Hans van LeeuwenEurope correspondentHans van Leeuwen covers British and European politics, economics and business from London. He has worked as a reporter, editor and policy adviser in Sydney, Canberra, Hanoi and London. Connect with Hans on Twitter. Email Hans at hans.vanleeuwen@afr.com
Mark MulliganWorld editorMark Mulligan is the world editor and a former markets and economics writer. He was a Financial Times correspondent. Connect with Mark on Twitter. Email Mark at mark.mulligan@afr.com.au
Michael SmithHealth editorMichael Smith is the health editor for The Australian Financial Review. He is based in Sydney. Connect with Michael on Twitter. Email Michael at michael.smith@afr.com
