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According to the IMF, the world could “end the pandemic” by mid-2022 by vaccinating 60% of the population at a cost of $ 50 billion.
Countries with a sufficient supply of vaccines could afford to donate 1 billion in 2021, even continuing to prioritize vaccination of their own populations, the IMF said in a report released Friday.
Combined with initial funding, Covid-19 vaccine donations would bring a faster end to the pandemic, saving millions of lives and generating economic benefits of about $ 9 million for global gross domestic product by 2025, he estimated.
The $ 50 billion figure is small compared to the $ 16 billion the IMF estimates countries have already spent on supporting households and businesses during the pandemic. But some health experts say the biggest impediments to vaccination initiatives are not funding, but logistics and national policy.
The IMF report warned: “In the absence of urgent action, many emerging and developing economies may have to wait until the end of 2022 or later to control the pandemic. This will be too late not only for these countries, but also for the world “.
Although some countries have begun to celebrate falling infection rates, successful vaccination campaigns, and a return to a certain appearance of normalcy, global cases of covid infections are currently at some of the highest levels since of the onset of the pandemic.
Although the UK has vaccinated 60% of its adults with at least one dose of Covid vaccine, most African countries have been vaccinated less than 1 percent of its population.
The IMF said the world should aim to vaccinate 40% of the population of all countries by the end of 2021 and at least 60% by mid-2022.
To date, some 1.6 billion vaccines have been administered worldwide from a global population of about 8 billion euros, according to data from the Financial Times. But vaccination campaigns continue to be interrupted by practical and political difficulties.
Manufacturing has been limited by the shortage of key materials and the supply disrupted by the export controls of leading producers like India. The possibility of the mutant virus harming the effectiveness of existing dams has also raised concerns about the possibility that the pandemic could creep in, even if manufacturing and supply problems are overcome.
To prevent the spread of new and more virulent variants of Sars-Cov-2, the IMF exposed the need to invest in a widespread deployment of testing and screening initiatives as precautionary measures.
“The proposal requires not only commitments, but initial funding, initial vaccine donations and preventive“ initial ”risk investments,” said Kristalina Georgieva, IMF director general at the G20 Health Summit. “It is essential that all necessary funding is available immediately.”
The measures could be funded with grants of $ 35 billion from donor countries and $ 15 billion in funding from national governments. $ 35 billion in donations would include a $ 4 billion increase in initial funding for the Covax international initiative to increase vaccination coverage in low- and middle-income countries from the current target of 20% to 30% at the end of this year.
The report suggests that vaccine production capacity had already become a restriction on vaccination than previously feared. The “conservative” IMF expected “at least 6 billion doses of vaccine [to be] produced and administered worldwide by the end of 2021, ”he said.
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