Call to Action on COVID Vaccine Access for Developing Countries by Heads of World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund

David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group, and Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, today issued the following joint statement to the G7 concerning access to COVID vaccines for developing countries:

“The coronavirus pandemic will not end until everyone has access to vaccines, including people in developing countries. Worldwide access to vaccines offers the best hope for stopping the coronavirus pandemic, saving lives, and securing a broad-based economic recovery.

Together with the WHO and WTO, the World Bank Group and IMF have urged international support for $50 billion of financing aimed at achieving more equitable access to vaccines and thus helping to end the pandemic everywhere.

The World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund call on countries anticipating excess vaccine supplies in the coming months to release their surplus doses and options as soon as possible, in a transparent manner, to developing countries with adequate distribution plans in place.

We are urging developing countries to move quickly to put in place vaccine procurement and distribution plans and communication efforts to convey the life-saving importance of approved COVID-19 vaccinations. The World Bank and the IMF, working closely with WHO, UNICEF, Gavi, and vaccine manufacturers, are supporting countries in the development and financing of such plans. 

We call on governments, pharmaceutical companies, and organizations involved in vaccine procurement and delivery to help increase transparency and build greater public information regarding vaccine contracts, options and agreements; vaccine financing and delivery agreements; and doses delivered and future delivery plans.

We also urge vaccine manufacturers to prioritize the scale up of vaccine production, providing increased access for developing countries. Our organizations will work actively to encourage and support greater access. 

Distributing vaccines more widely is both an urgent economic necessity, and a moral imperative.”