Globally, the cumulative infections now exceed 33 million. In many countries, they are higher than the initial peaks of March and April. The increase in testing accounts for this rise in infections, and although the total number of deaths recorded since the beginning of the pandemic now exceeds one million, the improvement in medical knowledge and treatments, as well as the younger age profile of patients, make the pandemic significantly less deadly.
More than 240 vaccines against Covid-19 are currently under development, with ten in phase III clinical trials, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
It seems reasonable to believe that a large part of the healthcare industry’s efforts to identify therapies and a vaccine, as well as public health measures and tracing applications, will start to bear fruit in the coming months. Only a widely accessible vaccine could pave the way for a more comprehensive economic recovery.
Several governments representing 60% of the world’s population, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Japan, have signed the WHO’s joint program for vaccine purchase.
This WHO program, known as Covax, and which lacks four-fifths of the $15 billion needed, aims to acquire up to 2 billion doses of vaccines by the end of 2021, according to the organization.
Until populations can be protected against the virus, about one-tenth of global activity, including the tourism, hospitality, and entertainment sectors, will not regain its pre-pandemic growth pace.
The response to the great financial crisis of 2008 was swift and united. Twelve years later, the Covid-19 pandemic has faced slow, fragmented approaches, even nationalistic and competitive ones. The pandemic has thus highlighted geopolitical weaknesses and the lack of multilateral cooperation, compromising any coordinated action.
This is the first global pandemic in a century. It would be reckless to assume it will be the last. It’s also the first time in history that we have technologies enabling a rapid response to a pandemic, thanks to analysis, tracing, and treatments, as well as potential vaccines.
