Billions of doses given in coronavirus vaccine’s first year

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Billions of shots have gone into arms in the first year of the coronavirus vaccine, including millions in Missouri. The first dose of coronavirus vaccine was administered a year ago Tuesday, when a New York doctor took the shot.

Dr. Christelle Ilboudo, MU Health Care Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist, set the tone for Missourians when she decided to be the first in Columbia to get the shot. She said we are in a better place now than we were then.

"Now we have better treatment options for COVID. Now, don't get me, people are still dying but we are in a better place than we were a year and a half ago where we did not necessarily have the right tools in terms of testing or availability of testing or enough hospital beds for those patients," said Ilboudo. 

Since then, 56.1% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to Ourworlddata.org. More than 8.5 billion doses have been administered globally, and 35.6 million are now administered each day.

One year later, coronavirus vaccines are available to any American who wants one, though many have refused to take the shot.

And a year later a huge gap exists between poor and rich countries. Only 7.2% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose.

Ilboudo said she feels there are some people who are tired of following the pandemic rules and this may cause challenges going forward. 

"Children under the age of five cannot currently get vaccinated. So, the challenge we might see is just like we saw in the summertime that the disease is going to shift downwards towards the younger people or the people, adults who can't get vaccinated," said Ilboudo.

In Missouri, the coronavirus still infects thousands of new people every day. Missouri added more than 1,800 new COVID-19 cases Monday. However, the rate of positive tests and hospitalizations remain below the record levels they hit during the peak of the pandemic a year ago.

Dr. Ilboudo said she believes if we can stop the new variants from forming,  and get vaccines for the younger children, that would be our way out of the pandemic. She also encourages everyone to keep wearing masks and get vaccinated if possible.

New cases are lower nationwide, as well, though the virus is still a part of everyday life. The Centers for Disease Control reports almost 50 million cases and nearly 800,000 deaths since the pandemic began.

More than 7.5 million vaccines doses have now been administered in the state of Missouri, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. More than 6.6 million first and second doses and a little over 892,000 third doses have been administered. However, only about 53% of the state is fully vaccinated.

That number is close to 55% in Boone County and 49% in Cole County.