(Washington, DC—April 27th, 2021) International poverty-fighting nonprofit CARE released a policy paper that details the economic rationale for a significant United States investment in a comprehensive global vaccination campaign. The paper, titled The Case for U.S. Investment in Global COVID-19 Vaccinations “No One Is Safe Until Everyone Is Safe,” is based on analysis done in partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton, a global technology and consulting company.
“As we enter into our second year of living with COVID-19, it has become painfully clear that the safety of any person depends on the global community’s ability to protect every person,” says CARE USA CEO and President Michelle Nunn. “While wealthy nations have begun inoculating their populations, new devastatingly lethal variants of the virus continue to emerge in countries like India, South Africa and Brazil. If vaccinations don’t effectively reach lower income countries now, the long-term impact of COVID-19 will be catastrophic.”
The Case for U.S. Investment in Global COVID-19 Vaccinations gives an overview of the economic costs of the pandemic to date, investments the U.S. government has made to fight it, and various estimates of the potential continued economic damage to the United States if vaccines do not reach enough people across the globe.
“This analysis makes clear the continued economic damage to the United States if we fail to achieve global herd immunity,” said Horacio Rozanski, President and CEO of Booz Allen Hamilton. “A significant American investment would be game changing, not just for the hundreds of millions of the poorest and most vulnerable, but for all of us.”
The paper argues that a comprehensive vaccination program needs to be sufficiently funded to not only acquire enough vaccines to inoculate people who may be missed otherwise, but also to ensure transportation, delivery, and administration of the vaccines. It estimates the full cost of vaccine delivery would be around $190 billion. And, using a GDP insurance model and a calculation recommended by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, it estimates the U.S. fair share of that cost is between $15 billion and $26 billion over the next 2-3 years.
The Case for U.S. Investment in Global COVID-19 Vaccinations lays out a simple choice for the United States: invest between $15 billion and $26 billion to support global vaccine delivery or run the risk of a continued pandemic that has already cost $6 trillion dollars in federal stimulus and investment – and could continue to cost the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars over the next several years.
Viruses know no borders and it is only when the global community can come together to dedicate efforts to a truly just and equitable global vaccination campaign will the pandemic end, because, both economically and physically, no one is safe from COVID-19 until everyone is safe.
You can also read an article published by the Hill c0-authored by CARE CEO Michelle Nunn, and Horacio D. Rozanski, CEO of Booz Allen Hamilton.
For More Information:
Rachel Kent
Senior Press Officer – Rachel.Kent@care.org