Global investor statement in support of an effective, fair and equitable global response to COVID-19

A study commissioned by the International Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation has found that advanced economies that can vaccinate all of their citizens remain at risk of a sluggish recovery with a drag on GDP if infection continues to spread unabated in emerging markets. In fact, the global economy stands to lose as much as US$9.2 trillion if governments fail to ensure that developing economies gain access to COVID-19 vaccines. These losses dwarf the funding needed to enable vaccines to be procured for everyone, everywhere – making a clear “investment case” for full capitalization of the ACT-Accelerator and a coordinated global approach to distribution.

A different study commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has reached a similar conclusion: leaving lower-income countries without access to vaccines amid the COVID-19 pandemic will cause significant economic damage that puts decades of economic progress at risk – for both emerging markets and advanced economies alike. The report has estimated that the economic benefits of a global equitable vaccine solution alone for the 10 countries included in the analysis would be at least US$ 153 billion in 2020-21, rising to US$ 466 billion by 2025. This is more than 12 times the US$ 38 billion estimated total cost of the ACT-Accelerator.

Given the pervasive health and social costs of the pandemic, there is a strong moral argument to leave no one behind. The two reports above highlight that empowering an effective, fair and equitable global response to COVID-19 via the ACT-Accelerator in 2021 is not only the right thing to do – it also makes full economic sense.