M.Most people will not pay for theirs out of their own pocket Covid-19 vaccinationBut that doesn’t mean that pandemic prevention is free.
Introducing and supplementing the cost of the vaccines has a price in the tens of billions. However, the uneven pace of global distribution could result in global economic costs of $ 4 trillion, according to a new report from the University of Maryland and the National Bureau of Economic Research.
That number is higher than the combined gross domestic products of Italy and Canada. And it underscores, according to the researchers, “the importance of the global availability of the vaccine, not from a moral but from an economic point of view”.
The spread of various coronavirus vaccines was more common in richer countries than in poorer ones. And in a global community, this could create problems – a theory that led researchers to investigate the potential impact of the different rollout.
“The economic dependencies of countries imply that the economic burden in one country has direct and serious consequences for the other.” Researchers wrote. “The economic losses of the pandemic can only be mitigated through multilateral coordination that ensures equitable access to vaccines, tests and therapeutics. … Fair distribution of vaccines can bring significant economic benefits to the global economy. “
The study examined the international interdependence of 35 industries as well as the COVID-19 infection rate in each connected country. After determining the cost of continued disrupted trade and increased production of healthy workers, the researchers found that these were wealthy nations Fully vaccinated in the middle of the yearhow many hope to be, however Developing countries If they are only half vaccinated, it could result in a global economic loss of $ 4 trillion.
(It could be worse. Failure to vaccinate at all will cost $ 9 trillion in losses.)
It depends on the trading partner. Advanced economies work with such to obtain materials for products (for example, some of the auto glass is made in China or Mexico, even if the vehicles are assembled in the US).
“The Director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, and the President of the European Commission, Dr. Ursula von der Leyen, stated that” none of us will be safe until everyone is safe, “they said Authors, “Our results extend this argument to economies by showing that no economy fully recovers until every economy recovers.”
Most of the financial impact is likely to be shared by four regions, according to the paper – the US, Canada, Europe and Japan. Together, they would absorb half the effects of global trade disruption, regardless of their own vaccination rate.
Of course, wealthy countries also face some barriers when it comes to the COVID vaccine. Appointments are still hard to come by in much of America, and winter weather has added some shipping delays. Perhaps more worrying are the people who receive one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines and never show up for the second, which significantly affects the effectiveness of the drug.
Michael Dowling, CEO of Northwell Health, said CNBC Recently, about 3% of people they vaccinated didn’t come back for a second time. And around 3,500 people are more than 42 days late for the second dose.
Even so, the US is making good progress in the vaccination effort. As of March 10, 127.9 million doses had been dispensed and 95.7 million doses had been administered. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over 33 million people have already received both doses, which is nearly 10% of the population.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
