Earlier this week, Statista released a timely infographic that illustrated the progress various countries have made to date in vaccinating people for COVID-19. As Statista’s Niall McCarthy pointed out, early efforts to secure vaccine candidates have resulted in a quick approval progress by authorities and effective infrastructure for administration, some governments are already racing ahead in their efforts to start mass vaccination against COVID-19. He cited the website, "Our World in Data", which has been keeping “tabs on the jabs” and which found that Israel is leading the race to reach the 60 to 70 percent threshold needed to suppress the spread of COVID-19 among the general population.

As of January 2, Israel administered 12.59 doses per 100 of its citizens, some 1.09 million in total, according to the website. “That is the highest rate of COVID-19 vaccination so far, considerably more than second-placed Bahrain's 3.57 doses per 100 inhabitants and the U.K.'s 1.39 doses per 100 of its citizens,” McCarthy observed, adding, “Things could change swiftly in the latter however, given that it has started administering the cheap and flexible Oxford University/Astra Zeneca vaccine. In the United States, the rate of vaccination stands at 1.28 jabs for every 100 people.”

McCarthy also noted that Israel is the pacesetter at the moment though and the country started vaccinations on December 19, administering around 150,000 per since then. Israel gained a head start on other countries after it negotiated early on for supplies of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The rollout has proven successful due to the country's excellent healthcare system and enthusiasm about the vaccine among the population. Health Ministry director General Hezi Levy said that the response has been so positive that the speed of the vaccination drive will have to be reduced in order to conserve stocks. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the speed and success of the program may allow Israel to emerge from the pandemic as early as February.