Vaccination is key to ending Covid pandemic

Recently, while appearing on a TV talk show, I was asked about the possibilities of ever having the education system  back to normality. This is what I replied; vaccination. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated that $50 billion is needed to ensure that everyone globally is vaccinated against the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Through this, we would accomplish an economic and social optimal outcome. New variants wouldn’t emerge. Vaccine resistance wouldn’t set in. Covid-19 would be eradicated and become a problem of the past. 

The IMF estimates that investing $50 billion into global vaccination campaigns will save the world about $9 trillion- about a fifth of the global economy and this is a very conservative estimate.  Some economists have argued that the true number is far higher than $9 trillion and they have capped it at around $30 trillion. 

It makes very big economic sense to end this pandemic even for the richer countries that are participating in vaccine hoarding and denying patents and IP Waivers to the poorer countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia, etc. For example, the IMF has projected that if were we to vaccinate 40 percent of the global population in 2021 and 60 percent in early 2022, the pandemic would be history by the end of the year after. An end to the pandemic would ensure that the richer and developed countries reap a 40 percent increase in Gross Domestic Product gains as well as a one trillion dollar in additional tax revenues.

For Uganda, full vaccination would mean that more than 15 million learners whose education has been disrupted for the last 18 months finally have a chance to continue school and this will have a ripple effect advantage as teachers, supporting staff, service providers have a shot at economic survival once again. 

It would mean a resumption to our normal lives; public transport, businesses, and of course, the comic voices of Taxi Conductors calling out for passengers. Haven’t we missed these Taxi touts?

But for us to return to normal, we have to defeat this pandemic.  Now that we have a scientific miracle- a vaccine produced in less than a year, it is time to advocate for vaccine equity. 

Vaccine Supply and distribution should not be a preserve of the “Big Pharma”. The rich countries should avail vaccines and vaccine production technologies to the poorer countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa so that they can produce their own and vaccinate their citizens. Successfully vaccinating everyone is equally contingent on us effectively unmasking the myths and conspiracy theories on vaccination.

Scientific research has shown that the Covid-19 vaccines are effective and they work. It is the duty of each one of us to go and “spread the good news” that there are vaccines and they enhance our protection against the Covid-19 virus. 

The recently concluded national dialogue on the future of education and children convened by World Vision, UNICEF, Save the Children, OXFAM, Education Advocacy with A Difference (EAWAD) Platform, and other partners, inter alia, underscored the need for vaccination as a foundation for education continuity and normality. 

It called for a mass teacher vaccination campaign and several actions by state and non-state actors that buttress the global push to end the Covid-19 pandemic; that push has vaccination as its bloodline. Do you want your children to return to school? Do you want to revamp your business? Go get vaccinated!

Prosper Mubangizi is  a policy & campaigns specialist at World Vision