Pandemic Response Report Card: Germany
It has been …
… since Former Chancellor Angela Merkel said "The pandemic is not over until all people in the world have been vaccinated."
Deliver doses
Low and lower-middle income countries still need nearly 4.2 billion doses to fully vaccinate 70% of the population by mid-2022. To help close the gap, members of the G20 have promised to share over 2.5 billion doses by mid-2022. To date, 553 million have been delivered.
Germany has not published a dose delivery plan.
Fund the Global Response
We need at least $43 billion to vaccinate 70% of the population in every income category by September 2022. To date, $0 billion has been committed. Country shares will be available soon and governments should act fast to fill this funding gap.
Share SDRs for Economic Recovery
The pandemic’s aftershocks continue to devastate the economies of many countries. High-income countries must support more vulnerable nations with all tools available, including Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), an international reserve asset that can help support countries in emergencies. Rechannelling an initial $100 billion of SDRs in 2021 to low income and vulnerable middle income countries is a smart investment in a fairer, greener, and better recovery for everyone. To date, $45 billion has been committed from all advanced economies.
Due to limitations imposed by legislation and their interpretation by the German government/Bundesbank, Germany has so far not been able to recycle SDRs. Instead, this indicator collects information on other additional and commensurate budgetary efforts Germany is making to support economic recovery from the pandemic.
Dismantle Barriers to Vaccine Supply
Only a handful of countries have the capacity to manufacture vaccines. We need urgent action to share mRNA technology and intellectual property rights, and to adapt existing facilities and acquire the materials needed to scale up vaccine production globally.
What’s next?
Germany is among the strongest supporters for multilateral efforts to scale up access to vaccines in the world’s poorest countries. It committed $2.6 billion to the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) in 2021. Germany committed to share 100 million doses by the end of 2021 and a further 75 million doses by mid-2022. But so far, it has only delivered 20.1 million doses. According to the government, pharmaceutical companies have contributed to delays by not offering delivery schedules. Germany will not be recycling any of its Special Drawing Rights (SDRs allocation, but it has contributed to economic response funds at the IMF and other multilaterals.
Germany increased its official development assistance (ODA) in 2020 and 2021, reaching the target of 0.7% ODA/GNI that the G8 agreed to in 2005. In 2022, the new German government must continue this level of foreign aid and keep its promise on dose deliveries to COVAX and low-income countries. The new government should also lay out how it will contribute to the economic recovery of African countries and ensure it is equivalent to other major economies that are recycling SDRs.
