The United States has slipped to 18th in the global rankings of COVID-19 vaccination uptake rates.
According to Our World in Data, which has compiled vaccination data from various national health authorities, as of Sunday, 17 countries have administered vaccinations to a higher share of their population than the U.S.
The States ranked third as recently as May 9, but has dropped down the pecking order and now sits in 18th place, behind the likes of Brazil, China and Japan.
Overall, 62.36 percent of the U.S. population have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
This means that more than a third of the population, 37.64 percent, are yet to receive a single dose.
The United Arab Emirates tops the rankings for vaccine uptake, with 89 percent of the population either fully or partly vaccinated.
Child Vaccinations
Children under the age of 12 are currently ineligible for a COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. In comparison, the U.A.E. approved in early August the emergency use of the Sinopharm vaccine for children aged three to 17.
More than half (53.13) percent of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with 9.23 percent partly vaccinated against the virus.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Monday, September 13, 73.9 percent of people who are eligible for the vaccine in the U.S. have had at least one dose, with 63.1 percent fully vaccinated.
The U.S. was one of the first countries to start administering COVID-19 shots, its mass vaccination program kicking off in December 2020.
Our World In Data shows that the U.S. ranked consistently in the top five countries for vaccine uptake until the start of June.
As of June 1, 50.2 percent of the U.S. population had been vaccinated, with 40.4 percent fully vaccinated, and 9.8 percent partially vaccinated.
The daily number of COVID-19 vaccination doses being administered in the U.S. dropped significantly in mid-April, falling from a rate of 1.01 per 100 people on April 13, to 0.15 per 100 people by July 10.
The daily rate has since increased slightly to 0.21 per 100 people, as of September 11.
Last week, President Joe Biden announced that all federal employees and federal government contractors will have to get vaccinated.
"This is not about freedom, or personal choice," he said. "It's about protecting yourself and those around you—the people you work with, the people you care about, the people you love."
He also revealed plans for businesses with at least 100 employees to require workers to be vaccinated or test negative for COVID-19 each week.
Furthermore, medical providers that receive money from the federal Medicaid and Medicare programs will be required to enforce employee vaccinations.
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