A report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit found that the slow rollout of Covid-19 vaccines will cost the global economy $2.3 trillion in lost output and emerging and developing economies whose vaccine rollouts are far behind those of wealthier countries will bear the brunt of those losses.
The study calculated that countries which fail to vaccinate 60 percent of their populations by mid-2022 will suffer the losses of around two trillion euros over the 2022-2025 period.
“Emerging countries will shoulder around two-thirds of these losses, further delaying their economic convergence with more developed countries,” EIU said. It also warned that the delayed rollout of vaccines could fuel resentment, increasing the risk of social unrest in developing economies.
While the Asia-Pacific region will be the worst hit in absolute terms, accounting for nearly three quarters of the losses, sub-Saharan Africa will suffer the worst losses in terms of percentage of GDP.
According to the study, around 60 percent of the population of higher-income countries received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as of late August, compared to just one percent in poorer nations. The report’s author, Agathe Demarais, said the international effort to provide vaccines to poor nations through Covax has failed to live up to its even modest expectations.
She adds that as the focus in developed economies is shifting towards administering booster doses of the vaccine, shortages of raw materials and production bottlenecks will make it difficult for poorer nations to have access to much-needed vaccines.
Serious challenges remain as far as the vaccination effort of poorer nations is concerned and as long as those are not addressed, we are sure to be left behind further as the richer countries march towards economic recovery. The slow pace of the vaccine rollout was expected to have improved when the rich nations have vaccinated most of their populations but with the Delta variant forcing them to continue cornering the vaccine supply in order to prepare to deliver booster shots for added protection, it has become clear that we cannot put our hopes on their generosity.
Nations like the Philippines have to shore up our vaccine procurement systems and prepare to aggressively compete with other countries as we search high and low for solutions to our vaccine procurement and supply problems. Vaccines are country’s best hope at the recovery of society and the economy and the sooner we can ensure that we have enough supply for our population of 110 million, the better it is for Filipinos who have been willing to work and go back to school but are unable to because of the slow pace of vaccination in the country.*
