Counting the Cost

Who will pay to deliver vaccines to the world’s poorest?

The World Health Organization makes the economic case for a $35bn vaccine fund. Plus, Zimbabwe’s hunt for oil.

Without a COVID-19 vaccine, millions of people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic are unlikely to find work. And millions more in middle-income nations will be pushed into poverty.

Advocates say that getting a vaccine to the world’s poorest is key to reversing poverty and ending the health crisis.

We talk to Dr Bruce Aylward, senior adviser to the director-general of the World Health Organization, about efforts to develop and distribute vaccines equitably.

Plus – can cash-strapped Zimbabwe become an exporter of oil and gas?

And what is behind China’s ambitious plans to create a one billion strong middle class?