May 12, 2021

Andrew Campbell 

 

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) released on May 11 "World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2021,” warning COVID-19 resurgence and vaccine inequity in many countries threaten the global economic recovery.

 

Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development and Chief Economist of DESA Elliott Harris indicated vaccine inequity between countries and regions has been threatening significantly the global economy under uneven and fragile recovery. In the latest UN economic forecast, Hamid Rashid, the lead author and Chief of the Global Economic Monitoring Branch at DESA, disclosed around 58 million women have been hit hardest at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic out of an estimated total of 114.4 million people into extreme poverty.

 

According to the World Health Organization, up to now 83% of the 832 million vaccines were administered to high or upper-middle-income countries while only 0.2% were given to their low-income peers. The UN report predicted 2021 global economic growth would likely reach 5.4% retrieving from the 2020s 3.6%. Elliott Harris also urged that timely and equal access to COVID-19 vaccines will stop the coronavirus pandemic and avoid losing many years of economic growth, development, and opportunities.

 

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