Why vaccine diplomacy and vaccine nationalism are unacceptable

The gap in vaccination rates between economically developed and developing countries must be closed to avoid what the HEAD of the World HEALTH Organization, Tedros Ghebreyesus, called vaccine segregation. Closing the gap is morally correct and in the interests of all parties.

This is the path that the European Union has taken since the start of the pandemic, and is now being mapped out by G20 leaders at the Global Health Summit in Rome on 21 May.

Every day, thousands of people continue to die from the virus in the world, and at the current rate, the entire population of the planet will be vaccinated only by 2023. However, mass vaccination of the entire population of the world is the only way to end the pandemic, otherwise the emergence of new strains of the virus may undermine the effectiveness of already created vaccines.

Vaccination is also necessary to remove restrictions that hinder economic development and the realization of freedoms. The whole world suffers from these restrictions, but they have become a particularly heavy burden for developing countries. Economically developed states have more effective social mechanisms and economic policy tools to limit the impact of the pandemic on the population.

If the gap in vaccination rates persists, we risk losing the trend that has emerged over the past decades to reduce poverty and inequality in the world. Such negative dynamics will constrain economic activity and exacerbate geopolitical tensions. For the economically developed countries, the cost of inaction will certainly be higher than the collective cost of helping the countries of the world to vaccinate. The EU therefore welcomes the $50 billion plan proposed by the International Monetary Fund, which calls for 40% of the world's population to be vaccinated in 2021 and 60% by mid-2022.