From Azerbaijan to Alaska: how world is getting the COVID-19 needle

More than eight billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been ordered by nations worldwide, and more than 32 million jabs have already been administered.

A medical worker receives an injection of the Chinese Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in Istanbul, Turkey, on Thursday. Picture: AFP

More than eight billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been ordered by nations worldwide, and more than 32 million jabs have already been administered.

AstraZeneca’s two-shot jab has sold almost 2.5 billion doses, servicing nearly 1.25 billion people in countries including the UK and the US. An early leader, the vaccine has been purchased in double the amount of any of its competitors.

It is being sold at about $4.50 per dose, five to 10 times cheaper than the estimated price of the Pfizer and Moderna shots.

Some countries have created bilateral agreements to secure vaccines, such as Indonesia’s partnership with Chinese vaccine developer Sinovac.

Others, including Russia, have set aside doses they have produced locally for in-country distribution. It has reserved 160 million doses of the Gamaleya jab for 144 million people.

Fears wealthier countries would obtain the lion’s share of the vaccines have been realised, with rushed early purchases leaving poorer countries behind.

Rich countries with 14 per cent of the world’s population have bought up to 53 per cent of the eight most promising jabs: Pfizer, Moderna, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Gamaleya, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax. However, 189 poorer nations will receive their shots through Covax, an initiative created by the WHO to assist with the equitable distribution of the vaccines.