The injustice of vaccines is undermining the global economic recovery

A new global dashboard at COVID-19 Vaccine Equity reveals that low-income countries would add $ 38 billion to their GDP forecasts for 2021 if they had the same vaccination rate as high-income countries. Global economic recovery is in jeopardy if vaccines are not produced, increased and distributed fairly.

According to new data released, the injustice against COVID-19 will have a lasting and profound impact on socio-economic recovery in low- and lower-middle-income countries without urgent measures to boost supplies and ensure equal access for each country, including dose sharing. today the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the University of Oxford.

Accelerating increases in production and sharing sufficient doses of vaccines with low-income countries could add $ 38 billion to their 2021 GDP forecast to have similar vaccination rates as high-income countries. At a time when richer countries have paid trillions of incentives to boost flag-bearing economies, now is the time to ensure rapid vaccine sharing, remove all barriers to increasing vaccine production and provide financial support to distribute vaccines equally and truly achieve global economic growth. recovery.

The high price of a dose of COVID-19 compared to other vaccines and delivery costs – including an increase in the health workforce – could put a heavy burden on fragile health systems and undermine routine immunization and basic health services and could cause alarming spikes in measles, pneumonia and diarrhea. There is also a clear risk in terms of missed opportunities to expand other immunization services, for example the safe and effective introduction of HPV vaccines. Low-income countries need timely access to affordable vaccines and timely financial support.

These insights come from the Global Dashboard for Capital Protection Against the COVID-19 Vaccine, a joint initiative of UNDP, WHO and Blavatnik University School of Oxford Government, which combines the latest information on COVID-19 vaccination with the latest socio-economic data. illustrate why accelerating vaccine balance is not only crucial to saving lives but also for a faster and fairer recovery from a pandemic with benefits for all.

“In some low- and middle-income countries, less than 1 percent of the population is vaccinated – this contributes to a two-way recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said UNDP administrator Achim Steiner. “It’s time for swift, collective action – this new COVID-19 vaccine dashboard will provide governments, policymakers and international organizations with unique insights to accelerate global vaccine delivery and mitigate the devastating socio-economic effects of a pandemic.”

The new dashboard, which is based on data from several entities, including the IMF, the World Bank, UNICEF and Gavi, and an analysis of GDP growth rates per capita from a global economic perspective, predicts that richer countries will vaccinate faster and recover economically faster COVID -19, while poorer countries have failed to vaccinate their health workers and the most vulnerable population and may not reach growth levels before COVID-19 by 2024. Meanwhile, Delta and other variants are forcing some countries to restore strict social measures in public health. This further exacerbates the social, economic and health impact, especially for the most vulnerable and marginalized people. Vaccine inequality threatens all countries and risks reversing the hard-earned progress in achieving sustainable development goals.

“Vaccine inequality is the world’s biggest obstacle to stopping this pandemic and recovering from COVID-19,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization. “Economically, epidemiologically and morally, it is in the best interest of all countries to use the latest available data to make rescue vaccines available to all.”

Designed to empower policymakers and development partners to take urgent action to reduce vaccine inequalities, the Global Dashboard breaks down the impact of the approach of targeting countries to first vaccinate their at-risk populations to reduce mortality and protect the health system, and then vaccinate larger populations. to reduce the burden of disease and reopen socio-economic activity.

The dashboard has been facilitated by the Global Action Plan for Healthy Living and Welfare for All (SDG3 GAP), which aims to improve cooperation in the multilateral system to support a fair and resilient recovery from the pandemic and drive progress towards SDG health.

Notes to editors

https://data.undp.org/vaccine-equity/

About UNDP:

UNDP is a leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality and climate change. Working with our extensive network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help countries build integrated, durable solutions for people and the planet.

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The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, the WHO works with 194 member states in six regions to promote health, protect the world and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for the period 2019-2023 is to ensure that one billion more people have universal health insurance, to protect one billion more people from emergencies and to provide further billions of people with better health and well-being.

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ABOUT BLAVATNIK SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD: