IMF Inspired - Vaccinating the World
Overview
Aurélia Nguyen, Managing Director of the COVAX Facility and Sabina Bhatia, Deputy Secretary of the IMF, discuss the challenges of vaccine procurement and distribution, and highlight the need for international cooperation to secure global and equitable access to vaccines. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, will give opening remarks.Join the conversation via #IMFinspired
IMF Inspired - Vaccinating the World
The session focused on the challenges of vaccine procurement, equitable distribution, and vaccine deployment in developing countries as COVAX Facility takes on the vital mission of providing 2 billion doses by 2021-end to the most vulnerable populations globally. The discussant described the continued need for international cooperation to bring an end to the pandemic and focus on economic recovery.
Key Points:
- Fair, equitable and affordable access to vaccines. To ensure rapid, equitable and affordable rollout of vaccines globally, particularly to low-income countries, COVAX Facility is faced with challenges related to funding, vaccine procurement and deployment. The Facility will soon be launching an investment opportunity, with an initial $2 billion in seed funding from the US, to supplement the $6 billion received so far. Nguyen shared they continue to hold discussions with countries that possess surplus vaccine doses to share with COVAX Facility for distribution to those in greater need.
- A future beyond 2022. As the prospect of outbreaks quickly escalating into pandemics looms large, increased global surveillance of infectious diseases is required. Going forward, Nguyen said, the focus should remain on staying ahead of the changing epidemiology and developing vaccines to prevent transmission, addressing new variants, and following the science.
- Policy Recommendation and role of IMF. COVID-19 pandemic highlighted weaknesses of the health care systems globally and how lack of investments in this sector can impact economic development. Nguyen recommended that IMF continue to call upon its member states to scale-up spending on healthcare and protection, particularly in low-income countries. Beyond the current pandemic, Nguyen recommended ramping up investments to protect national immunization programs and to put back on track routine and primary health care programs.
Quotes:
“Right now, vaccine policy is the most important economic policy, and we need all hands on deck to boost vaccine production and ensure fairer distribution—including reallocating excess doses from surplus to deficit countries." Kristalina Georgieva
"We need to do whatever it takes to boost the production of vaccines, not fight about sharing the pie of available vaccines, but expanding this pie.” Kristalina Georgieva
"COVAX is an investment that we are making for all of us. Vaccines are going to be a key part of getting the world back on track and making sure that we have health and economic recovery." Aurélia Nguyen
"It is the duty of every government to make the protection their population their first priority, but in a pandemic that also means protecting people elsewhere because no one is safe until everyone is safe.” Aurélia Nguyen
"Ability to pay should not be the deciding factor in terms of who gets vaccinated." Aurélia Nguyen
Panelists
Opening Remarks: Kristalina Georgieva
Kristalina Georgieva is the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She is the first person from an emerging market economy to lead the IMF since its inception in 1944. Before joining the Fund, Ms. Georgieva was Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank and also served as Interim President for a time. Previously, she served at the European Commission as Vice President for Budget and Human Resources – and as Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response. She was named “European of the Year” and “Commissioner of the Year” by European Voice for her leadership in the European Union’s humanitarian response to crises.
Moderator: Sabina Bhatia
Sabina Bhatia is Deputy Secretary of the IMF. Prior to that, she was Assistant Director in the Communications Department. Sabina has a B.A. from Calcutta University and an M.A. in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University.
Panelist: Aurélia Nguyen
As Managing Director of the Office of the COVAX Facility, Aurélia Nguyen leads the coordination of procurement and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines for190 economies through COVAX, the only global initiative working with governments and manufacturers worldwide to ensure fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. Previously, Aurélia served as Gavi’s Managing Director for Vaccines & Sustainability. Prior to joining Gavi, Aurélia held a variety of posts within GlaxoSmithKline, where latterly she led the development of GSK’s policies on access to medicines and vaccines in the developing world. She has also undertaken research for the World Health Organization (WHO) on generic medicines policies. Auréliais a certified accountant and holds a Master’s degree in Health Policy, Planning & Financing from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics. In 2021, Aurélia was named to the TIME100 Nextlist.