At the same time, despite Russia's early start, they've now administered ~20 million doses, to a population of ~145 million, compared to ~50 million doses admin

At the same time, despite Russia's early start, they've now administered ~20 million doses, to a population of ~145 million, compared to ~50 million doses administered in the UK, to a population of ~67 million. We have a natural experiment between countries that waited for standard clinical trials before beginning mass vaccinations, and countries that didn't. It's too early to take the "final score" [accurate, globally accepted final death tolls by country probably won't be available for a year if not years] to see who handled the pandemic best, from beginning to end, but right now it doesn't seem like vaccinating first made for a lasting lead in the vaccination race.