The first Qatar Economic Forum Powered by Bloomberg has successfully highlighted the need for global vaccine equity as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Forum, which has brought leaders of governments and industries together, addressed how developed economies can ensure a holistic approach to vaccination and its productions to enable speedy recovery and economic sustainability.
While opening the conference, Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said the inaugural event “represents a springboard for a series of forums aimed at enriching the dialogue on the global economy and proceeding to the next post-COVID-19 phase.”
H H the Amir also called on world leaders for increased cooperation to achieve a “just and comprehensive distribution of the vaccine in a manner that would pave the way for establishing an integrated global social and economic system in line with the sustainable global development goals to achieve wellbeing and stability to our peoples”.
Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan called vaccines “the most crucial weapons against a pandemic.” He highlighted the extent of the fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic globally, noting the world’s least developed and developing countries had been “left to their fate.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also said, “the continued refusal for vaccine waiver leads to inequity on vaccines. We are facing an emergency that has affected the entire world. It is totally unfair and wholly unjust that pharmaceutical companies, as well as certain countries, are refusing to allow this provision to be waived so that there can be mass production of these vaccines so that we can save lives.”
On the other hand, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said Africa has to be equal partners with the rest of the world in manufacturing vaccines to be able to meet the vaccination demands of its population.
Recently, Kristalina Georgieva (MD, IMF), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (DG WHO), David Malpass (President, World Bank), and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (DG, WTO) called on governments to finance a new $50bn roadmap to end the COVID-19 pandemic and drive a fast recovery. Ahead of the G7 summit, the heads of the world’s predominant global financing, health and trade agencies said in a call to action published in newspapers across the world: “By now it has become abundantly clear there will be no broad-based recovery without an end to the health crisis. Access to vaccination is key to both”.
Inevitably a cohesive and inclusive recovery plan seems the only option to a better post-pandemic world.
