RAND Europe’s “COVID-19 and the Cost of Vaccine Nationalism” Report
The coronavirus breakout, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020, is continuing to claim the lives of thousands of people across the world. Nevertheless, many countries have already eased measures against coronavirus pandemic due to economic concerns.
The coronavirus breakout, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020, is continuing to claim the lives of thousands of people across the world. Nevertheless, many countries have already eased measures against coronavirus pandemic due to economic concerns. A significant global research effort is taking place to develop a vaccine, as the only way to get out of this impasse. Even though vaccine trial results raise hopes, vaccine nationalism seems to become an increasing source of concern, as high income countries sign agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers to supply their own populations with vaccine at the expense of poorer countries.
To demonstrate how vaccine nationalism would affect the global economy, RAND Europe published a report entitled “COVID-19 and the Cost of Vaccine Nationalism” in October 2020. According to this report:
- Vaccine nationalism could lead to the unequal allocation of COVID-19 vaccines and cost the global economy up to $1.2 trillion a year in GDP terms. -If the poorest countries cannot access vaccines the world would still lose about $153 billion a year of GDP. -As long as there is no vaccine against the disease, the global cost associated with COVID-19 and its economic impact could be $3.4 trillion a year. -If only one country or region—such as the US, the UK the EU-27, China, India or Russia—has the vaccine, its economy would improve substantially but economic activity would still be negatively affected because of lower foreign demand from middle and low-income countries.
Taking into account these findings, the report emphasizes that:
- Global competition or vaccine nationalism may prevent a COVID-19 vaccine reaching those most in need. -Investing in vaccine development and equitable access would be economically beneficial in the long run. -To encourage international sharing of vaccines, enforceable frameworks for vaccine development and distribution are needed and should be managed by established international forums. -The international effort to support vaccination distribution needs to be sustained over time.
