  We estimate patterns of covariation between COVID-19 vaccination rates and a
set of widely used indicators of human, social, and economic capital across 146
countries in July 2021 and February 2022. About 70% of the variability in
COVID-19 vaccination rates worldwide can be explained by differences in the
Human Development Index (HDI) and, specifically, in life expectancy at birth,
one year after the campaign debut. Trust in doctors and nurses adds predictive
value beyond the HDI, clarifying controversial discrepancies between
vaccination rates in countries with similar levels of human development and
vaccine availability. Cardiovascular disease deaths, an indicator of general
health system effectiveness, and infant measles immunization coverage, an
indicator of country-level immunization effectiveness, are also significant,
though weaker, predictors of COVID-19 vaccination success. The metrics of
economic inequality, perceived corruption, poverty, and inputs into the health
system have strong bivariate correlations with COVID-19 vaccination but no
longer remain statistically significant when controlling for the HDI. Our
analysis identified the contours of a social structure that sustains life and
is reproduced through this process. COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be part of
the Matthew effect of accumulating advantages and aggravating disadvantages
that the pandemic inflicted on societies and communities across the world. At
the same time, the remaining variability in vaccination success that cannot be
pinned down through these sets of metrics points to a considerable scope for
collective and individual agency in a time of crisis. The mobilization and
coordination in the vaccination campaigns of citizens, medical professionals,
scientists, journalists, and politicians, among others, account for at least
some of this variability in overcoming vaccine hesitancy and inequity.
