China reached a milestone of administering a billion doses in June, while in the US some states have reached a 70 per cent vaccination rate.

China has administered a third of all doses given globally according to the BBC and was on target to fully vaccinate 40 per cent of its 1.4 billion population by mid-year.

China’s National Health Commission said it had taken just five days to administer 100 million doses during June. It says it aims to have fully vaccinated 70 per cent of the population by the end of the year.

China’s vaccine drive started slowly, with some initial reluctance from some parts of the population after the country had successfully suppressed virus cases.

But an outbreak of the Delta variant in the southern province of Guangdong convinced many Chinese to be vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the vaccination drive in the United States, initiated by President Biden, has also produced impressive results.

By mid-June, two of the most populous states – New York and California – hit their 70 per cent vaccination goal, leading to a lifting of restrictions imposed during the worst of the pandemic. Nationwide, 64.5 per cent of US adults had been at least partially vaccinated.

At the same time, Australia had only administered 7.4 million doses, 19 per cent of the population had had one jab, and only 4.8 per cent had been fully vaccinated (29 June).