According to the WTO, vaccine nationalism will also harm rich countries

The new head of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, warned of "vaccine nationalism," which she said would prolong the new coronavirus pandemic and slow economic recovery in both poor and rich nations. The former Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs of Nigeria was elected to the highest position in the WTO on Monday, February 15. She will take up the new post on March 1. As she said in an interview with Reuters, its priority will be greater WTO activity in the fight against the pandemic. According to her, Member States should step up their efforts to remove restrictions that slow down trade in essential medicines. "The WTO can make a much greater contribution to ending the pandemic," Okonjo-Iweal said. "No one is safe until we are all safe. Vaccine nationalism is definitely not worthwhile at the moment, as new mutations are emerging," she added. According to the new head of the WTO, there is a risk that if many countries have a problem with enough vaccines, it will return to where vaccination is advancing at a rapid pace. She noted that, according to international studies, the world economy will suffer damage of about 9 trillion USD (7.42 trillion euros) if poorer countries are unable to vaccinate their populations quickly. About half of this damage is recorded in rich countries. "From both a human health and an economic point of view, current nationalism is very expensive for the international community," Okonjo-Iweala added.