Most of 1.5 billion global jabs given in China, US, India

More than 1.5 billion doses of anti-Covid vaccines have been injected into people’s arms around the world, six months after the vaccination drive started. By Tuesday night, at least 1,500,017,337 doses had been injected in 210 countries or territories. Nearly three fifths of the total have been given in three countries: China (421.9 million), the United States (274.4 million) and India (184.4 million), according to AFP. In terms of population, Israel is leading the pack: nearly six Israelis out of 10 have been completely vaccinated with two shots. The UK follows, with 54% of its population having received at least one dose.

Meanwhile, the EU took a step towards relaxing tourism travel for visitors from outside the bloc, with EU ambassadors agreeing on measures to allow fully vaccinated visitors in. They have also agreed on easing the criteria for nations to be considered a safe country, from which all tourists can travel. Up to now, that list included only seven nations.