The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has mooted a plan with a total cost of around USD 50 billion to vaccinate at least 40 percent of the population in all countries by the end of 2021 and at least 60 percent by the first half of 2022.

"The world does not have to live through the pain of another record surge of COVID-19 cases. With strong global action now and with very little in terms of financing relative to the outsized benefits, we can durably exit this health crisis," IMF said.

Saving lives and livelihoods should need no justification, but a faster end to the pandemic could also inject the equivalent of USD9 trillion into the global economy by 2025 due to a faster resumption of economic activity, the IMF has mooted. Advanced economies, likely to spend the most in this effort, would see the highest return on public investment in modern history Â- capturing 40 percent of the cumulative USD 9 trillion in global GDP gains and roughly USD 1 trillion in additional tax revenues.

 "It is well understood that there can be no lasting end to the economic crisis without an end to the health crisis. The pandemic policy is thus economic policy. It is critical for global macroeconomic and financial stability, which makes it of fundamental importance to the IMF and other economic institutions. Ending the pandemic is a solvable problem but requires further coordinated global action," IMF said.

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