The COVID-19 pandemic caught many global institutions and leaders by surprise. As experts now consider how to best prepare for the inevitable next pandemic, recent research from a pair of economists at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund suggests that a key step to solving vaccine inequity is to help lower-income countries with the financing to place advance orders.
On average, wealthy countries placed advance orders for COVID-19 jabs by late 2020 — with some signing contracts in May of that year — while lower-income countries lagged behind by several months, the research shows. Up to 75% of delays in vaccine delivery could be attributed to the timing of when orders were placed, meaning that the sooner vaccines are ordered, the sooner they will likely be delivered.
The researchers — Ruchir Agarwal from IMF and Tristan Reed from the World Bank — propose establishing a new advance commitment mechanism with access to a credit line on “day zero,” — defined as the day that the World Health Organization declares a pandemic — which would allow lower-income countries to get in line to buy vaccines earlier.