Ahead of India's Covid-19 vaccination, a look at countries which began the drive

The first consignment of Covishield, the Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII), arrived at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport from Pune on Tuesday morning, four days before the launch of a nationwide vaccination drive. With this India will enter the long list of countries that have approved and started administrating Covid-10 vaccines to their populations.

Here’s a list of other countries that have begun their vaccination programme:

Argentina

The country started administering the two-component Russian Sputnik V vaccine on December 29 last year across all 23 provinces and in the capital Buenos Aires.

Belgium

Belgium received the first Covid-19 vaccines developed by BioNTech/Pfizer on December 28, 2020. The country plans to vaccinate 70 per cent of its population by the end of 2021.

Belarus

Belarus started administering the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine on December 29.

Canada

The country started vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine on December 14. The country has also approved the Moderna vaccine.

Chile

On December 24, Chile started its inoculation programme.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica administered the first shot of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses on December 24.

Croatia

The country began its vaccination programme on December 27.

Cyprus

Cyprus began rolling out its vaccination programme on December 27.

The Czech Republic

Prime Minister Andrej Babis was the first to get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Central Military Hospital in Prague on December 27 after which the country began its nationwide inoculation program.

Denmark

Denmark began vaccinating its people on December 27.

Finland

The country also started its vaccination program on December 27.

France

The country started its vaccination program on December 26 with first vaccines applied to a woman and a doctor, both 78, in Rene-Muret Hospital near the capital Paris.

Germany

Vaccinations against the coronavirus began in the country on December 26.

Greece

The country began administering the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on December 27. Greece’s president and prime Minister were the third and fourth people in the country to get inoculated.

Hungary

Hungary started vaccinating healthcare workers against the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on December 26.

Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a Covid-19 vaccine jab on December 19, kicking off a national roll-out.

Italy

The first vaccinations against the coronavirus disease in Italy took place on December 27.

Kuwait

Kuwait began its coronavirus vaccination campaign on December 24 as the country received the first 150,000 doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

Malta

The country kicked off its vaccination programme at the same time as other EU members on December 27.

Mexico

Mexico started its mass vaccination programme on December 24 after the first 3,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine arrived in the country.

Oman

On December 27, Oman launched its Covid-19 inoculation campaign, with the health minister receiving the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

Poland

The country began its vaccination program on December 27.

Qatar

Qatar launched a free coronavirus vaccination campaign after the first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived on December 22. Qatar has also signed deals to acquire Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines.

Romania

The country rolled out its vaccination program on December 27.

Russia

According to the Russian government, the country has been inoculating its citizens since September using the indigenous Sputnik V vaccine.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia began its campaign with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on December 17.

Serbia

The nation started its vaccine roll-out on December 24, with Prime Minister Ana Brnabic becoming the first to receive the Pfizer vaccine.

Slovakia

Slovakia started to vaccinate its population on December 26 with the Pfizer- BionTech vaccine.

Spain

Spain started vaccination against Covid-19 on December 27.

Switzerland

Switzerland started its coronavirus vaccine rollout on December 23 with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Singapore

Singapore began its coronavirus vaccination campaign on December 30.

United Arab Emirates

The UAE approved the Pfizer-BioNTech and Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccines for mass use and administered vaccines on December 14.

United Kingdom

The country started its vaccination programme, the first to do so, on December 8 with Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother, becoming the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

United States

The country also started administering the Pfizer vaccine on December 8. The Pfizer-BioNTech has been administered to more than a million people since the programme began and the country has also approved a second vaccine made by Moderna.

(With agency inputs)