'A game changer' - Austria's Sebastian Kurz and other leaders on COVID vaccines
Austria's Sebastian Kurz spoke at the Forum's Great Reset Dialogues on 2 December. Image: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
"Vaccination is the game changer. It’s difficult to plan the next year, but our perspective is hopefully we have the chance to vaccinate our risk groups in the first quarter and have the chance to vaccinate broader parts of society in the second quarter."
Those were the words of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, speaking at the Forum's latest virtual Great Reset meeting on 2 December. His comments came as the UK became the first country to authorize the use of a new COVID-19 vaccine, with other countries are the globe set to follow suit this month.
The Great Reset, which grew out of the Forum's COVID Action Platform, is a commitment to jointly and urgently build the foundations of our economic and social system for a more fair, sustainable and resilient post-COVID future.
Other speakers at Wednesday's virtual meeting included Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer, Moderna; Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); Sir Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice-President, Biopharmaceutical Research and Development, AstraZeneca; Dr Paul Stoffels, Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee, Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson.
Here's a roundup of some of the key quotes from the session.
"I hope there is light on the horizon for 2021 - but in our case we think we still have another four to five difficult months ahead of us."
”"It's not enough to have the wealthy countries vaccinated, we have to have the world vaccinated."
”"We need supply chain, logistics and transportation sectors that are all working together - we need to prioritize the transportation of vaccines."
”"I think it's going to be frustrating, because there won't be enough for most people definitely in the first quarter, definitely in the second quarter - and most probably for the entire year."
”"Between all of the industry partners, as well as with the clinical trial centers, the collaboration has been exceptional."
”Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Stay up to date:
COVID-19
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Health and Healthcare SystemsSee all
Jennifer Goldsack and Shauna Overgaard
November 14, 2024
