Paris | Wide inequalities in access to COVID-19 vaccines risk weakening the fight for major international causes, such as climate change, the World Economic Forum warned on Tuesday.
The global divergence in access to vaccines “will create tensions – within states and between states – risking worsening the effects of the pandemic and complicating the coordination necessary to meet common challenges”, warns the Geneva-based foundation in the 17th annual edition of its “Global Risks Report” published on Tuesday.
Among these challenges that risk creating “social fractures and geopolitical tensions”, she cites climate action, improving digital security, social cohesion and space competition.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 41 countries have still not been able to immunize 10% of their population, while 98 countries have not reached 40% vaccinated, a sharp contrast to the Western countries where vaccination coverage sometimes reaches 80%.
However, billions of doses of vaccine were produced last year. But the various redistribution mechanisms, such as the Covax device (less than 10% of doses administered worldwide) set up by the WHO to ensure vaccination in low-income countries, have hardly worked.
However, without sufficient coordination, “a disorderly climate transition (…) will only further divide countries and separate societies,” notes the World Economic Forum.
In its report, the Economic Forum lists the 10 main risks for the planet over the next ten years, the result of numerous interviews with international experts, including five linked to the climate.
In addition to the dangers linked to the climate, the low vaccination rates in some areas will also “weigh on the availability and productivity of workers, disrupt distribution chains and weaken consumption”, at a time when inflation is high and when world trade continues to suffer from shortages.
By 2024, developing countries, excluding China, will be 5.5% below their level of growth expected before the pandemic, while the most advanced economies will have exceeded it by 0.9% , according to the Forum’s expectations.