Japan overtakes US on vaccination after starting months later

A woman receives the first shot of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine as others wait for their turn in front of pachinko pinball machines at the pachinko parlour Freedom in Osaka, western Japan, Monday, Sept. 13, 2021. A nearby hospital dispatched medical workers to administer the vaccine to 1,500 people in two days at the pinball parlour which became a makeshift vaccination site. - AP

TOKYO (Bloomberg): Japan has given first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to 63.6% of its population, surpassing the US in the proportion of those who have had at least one shot of the vaccine despite starting months behind.

The island nation’s progress now puts the US last among Group of Seven nations when it comes to the proportion of the population with at least one dose, after vaccine hesitancy squandered the country’s head start. About 63.1% of the US has had at least their first shot, and 53.8% are fully vaccinated.