Political division drags U.S. COVID-19 vaccination rate: report

NEW YORK, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Some 63.1 percent of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated with at least two doses against COVID-19, a ratio ranking behind 58 other countries, The Hill reported Saturday.

Citing data from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, the report said nine countries to the south ranked before the United States in terms of vaccination rate, namely Chile, Cuba, Uruguay, Argentina, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Brazil, Peru and El Salvador.

"Not far behind are Panama with a rate of 58.3 percent and Mexico at 57.1 percent," it said. "These 11 Latin American countries are far poorer and arguably less organized than the U.S., but have lost many fewer lives to COVID-19."

Politics is a major reason for which so many Americans under 65 have refused to get vaccinated, said the report. "Among the 18 states that have lower vaccination rates than Mexico, 17 are predominantly red states."