Despite this, the IMF’s World Economic Outlook projected for this year a global growth of 5.5 percent, 0.3 percentage points higher than the previous October forecast. This is reflected by both positive vaccination campaigns and governmental support policies for major economies such as the US and Japan.
The United States is steadily increasing the vaccination rollout, with some 54 million doses already administered. Furthermore, the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the US outnumbered new cases 10 to 1 last week.
Last week the EU nations France, Italy, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic received their first shipments of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, with hopes that the increased supply will ramp up the immunization rates. On February 10, the European Parliament approved a €672.5 billion COVID recovery fund, which will be designed to alleviate the economic and social consequences of the pandemic.
Over 3 million Turkish citizens have received their first doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines, and Chile, who approved Sinovac for emergency use in January, is aiming to vaccinate 80% of its population by June 2021.