ARTICLE | Vaccines & Economy
Fate of global economy rests on COVID-19 vaccination Economy of a nation is run by its people. A nation and its economy freezes if the population is faced with a health hazard, thereby turning expenditure on public health into an investment for nations. Health enhancement of a population largely depends on prevention – as was recognized centuries ago by Desiderius Erasmus in his famous quote, ‘Prevention is better than cure.’ With the help of vaccination drives, nations across the globe are now trying to cure the economic fallout created Pooja Upadhyay | Trainee Reporter
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he World Bank, in a hopeful statement, had said that the collapse in global economic activity in 2020 was slightly less severe than previously projected. The reason cited was shallower contractions in advanced economies and a more robust recovery in China.
38 June 2021 | www.urbanupdate.in
However, in stark contrast to this, the economical disruptions and collapse of the entire structure was much more acute in the emerging markets and developing economies. World Bank estimates reflect that the coronavirus pandemic reduced global economic growth to an annualized rate of -4.5 per cent to -6.0 per cent in 2020, but the
organisation also projected its growth by 8 per cent in 2021. Late 2020 and early 2021 saw developed economies making major strides in vaccinating increasing shares of their population. This raised clear prospects of a recovery in those economies, which in turn, will improve the global economic condition. Withal, a surge in new COVID-19 cases in 2021 in large developing economies around the world and consistent resistance to vaccinations among some populations in developed economies is raising questions and worries on the speed and the strength of an economic recovery over the near term. Economic experts believe that the pandemic could risk continued labor dislocations as a result of lingering high levels of unemployment, which has not been experienced since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Effect of vaccination on economies
A look at countries’ vaccination programmes reveals that countries that have been quick to vaccinate their population against COVID-19 and are
