Canada is now beating the U.S. in the race to vaccinate populations against COVID-19.
Canada faced shipping delays early in the rollout, giving Americans a head start, but increased supply allowed the Canadians to get through a larger portion of their relatively small population of nearly 38 million, compared to almost 330 million in the U.S.
Our World in Data, a popular vaccine-tracking website, says 49.7% of Canada’s population is fully vaccinated compared to 48.2% in the U.S.
The European Union recently exceeded America’s share of persons with at least one dose of vaccine, at 55.7% compared to 55.6%, though its share of fully vaccinated persons lags behind by nearly 6 percentage points.
Canada’s edge on the U.S. could widen if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is able to maintain interest in the shots, as President Biden and federal officials fret about stalling demand in the U.S.
Canada’s progress could have a side benefit for some Americans, however. Mr. Trudeau recently signaled that fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents might be able to cross into Canada for nonessential travel as of mid-August.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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