Biotechnology company Moderna protocol files for COVID-19 vaccinations are kept at the Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida, on August 13, 2020.Vaccine nationalism, in which countries prioritize their domestic needs at the expense of others, will have significant global economic consequences.
Marco Hafner is a senior economist and research leader at RAND Europe working on employment, education and social policy research.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more storiesAs more COVID-19 vaccines are approved by regulatory bodies, attention will undoubtedly turn to the rollout. Vaccine nationalism – which occurs when national governments sign bilateral agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers to supply their own populations with vaccines first – seems inevitable.
For example, if the vaccine-producing countries, such as the US, EU-27, UK, China, India and Russia, can inoculate a sufficiently large share of their populations, the estimated loss for the world economy in GDP would reduce from 3.7% to 1.3%. However, the lack of access to vaccines for the rest of the world would still result in a GDP loss of up to $1.2 trillion per year, or about $103 billion a month.
RANDEurope That’s why our government will give it to them...money means more to them than people!