Global group calls for $15 billion this year for long term COVID response
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A group of global institutions led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has proposed $15 billion in grants this year and $10 billion annually thereafter as part of a global strategy to address the long-term risks of COVID-19.
The IMF, in partnership with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Global Fund, and Wellcome Trust, made the request on Tuesday in a working paper titled âA Global Strategy to Manage the Long-term Risks of COVID-19.â
âThe cost of inaction â for all of us â is very high. We need to act â now,â Gita Gopinath, First Deputy Managing Director of IMF said. The pandemic financing would address a systemic risk to the global economy, she added, pointing out that, according to IMF estimates, the pandemic losses are expected to reach $13.8 trillion, cumulatively,
Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, argued that vaccines remain one of the most powerful tools against COVID-19, and they will be key for the future response. âBut if they are to truly fulfill their potential in preventing future pandemics their development must also go alongside investments in global surveillance, R&D, manufacturing, and health systems,â he added.
âA future in which we are to respond to the next Disease X with new vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics in just 100 days is possibleâbut it will take vision, political will, and commensurate financial investments from governments around the world.â
Leading COVID-19 vaccine developers: Pfizer (NYSE:PFE
+1.0%)/ BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX
-1.6%), Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA
-5.4%), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ
+1.2%), Novavax (NVAX
-10.3%), AstraZeneca (AZN
+1.4%), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK
+2.6%)/ Sanofi (SNY
+1.2%), Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO
-4.3%), Sinovac Biotech (SVA), CanSino Biologics (OTCPK:CASBF
+0.0%), Sinopharm (OTCPK:SHTDF) (OTCPK:SHTDY
-1.0%), Ocugen (OCGN
-2.8%)
Makers of COVID-19 pills: Pfizer (PFE), Merck (MRK
+1.2%)
On Monday, U.S. congressional negotiators agreed for $10 billion in additional funding for U.S. COVID-19 response, which excluded a $5 billion proposed for the global efforts.