As South Africans, we are sports mad. However, now, more than ever, when we watch televised contests between the world’s most elite athletes, we watch with envy as we see packed stadiums in Europe, The United States of America, parts of Australia and New Zealand.

As various vaccines are being rolled out against COVID-19 and many nations across the world have embarked on impressive and ambitious vaccination campaigns, most of these nations are returning to a semblance of normalcy, venturing out to public places once more and in some instances without being forced to wear masks under penalty of legal sanction. 

Therefore, with South Africa’s third COVID-19 wave having slowed to less than 2500 new infections a day on average, during the last week of September 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa has moved the nation to alert level two, thus easing limitations in movement and contact between persons. However, we, here in South Africa, are longing for a return to the level of normalcy enjoyed in other nations.

We too want to take to the streets, we too want to return to our offices and factories. Like the Australians in Queensland, enjoying the clash between the Springboks, All Blacks, Wallabies and Pumas, live in their stadiums, we are envious as we could only watch the Springboks run  to victory against the British and Irish Lions in empty stadiums, on our screens, in our homes, but a month ago.

It is however not about sport, nor about being able to dine at your favourite restaurant, unwind at your favourite pub or club or being able to sit in a cinema to enjoy the most anticipated blockbuster, but rather the economy.

A study commissioned by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Research Foundation has found that the global economy stands to lose as much as US$9.2 trillion if governments fail to ensure developing economies access to COVID-19 vaccines.

According to a featured article by the World Bank in June this year: “the recovery of many countries is constrained by resurgences of COVID-19, uneven vaccination, and a partial withdrawal of government economic support measures. Excluding China, growth is anticipated to unfold at a more modest 4.4% pace. In the longer term, the outlook for emerging market and developing economies will likely be dampened by the lasting legacies of the pandemic – erosion of skills from lost work and schooling; a sharp drop in investment; higher debt burdens; and greater financial vulnerabilities.”

This analysis by the World Bank relates back to the rollout of vaccines and predicts where uneven vaccine rollouts occur, particularly in the developing world, these economies will recover at a slower rate, thus increasing the gap between developed economies – most of which are rolling out effective vaccination programmes – and the developing world. The very same featured article by the World Bank predicts that the United States of America and China “are each expected to contribute about one quarter of global growth in 2021. The U.S. economy has been bolstered by massive fiscal support, vaccination is expected to become widespread by mid-2021, and growth is expected to reach 6.8% this year, the fastest pace since 1984. China’s economy – which did not contract last year – is expected to grow a solid 8.5% and moderate as the country’s focus shifts to reducing financial stability risks.”

The more we individually take the opportunity to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the more we contribute to the collective goal of being able to shake off much of the pandemic’s economic shackles. We may not be able to rid ourselves of this scourge entirely, but with greater protection against the infectious virus, fewer deaths and hospitalisations due to the vaccination, the more economic activity and resultant growth we can look forward to. 

Simply summarised, a Science Daily article, featuring a study by a University of New Mexico research team which found that: “as a larger portion of the population gets vaccinated against COVID-19, it becomes economically advantageous to start relaxing social distancing measures and open businesses.”

A recent Ipsos survey yielded an interesting perspective on what working from home due to the pandemic has done to employee productivity which inevitably impacts the economy at a larger scale. The survey found that for workers working from home:

• Their home is a difficult place to be productive (38%);
• They feel disengaged from their work when working from home (37%), and
• They feel more burned out by work when they do so (33%).
• Parents of children under 18 are also more likely to feel this way.

“Three in ten (30%) say they would consider looking for another job given the same salary and responsibility if their employer expected them to work away from home full time. Those under the age of 35 and parents are more likely to say so.”

With many state-of-the-art office buildings still standing vacant, as office workers with internet connections are working from home, it is clear that work has continued during this pandemic, however it is neither ideal nor as efficient as it would be if we returned to the work place.

Thus for us all to return safely to environments created to bring out our creativity, productivity and efficacy, we need to see the vast majority of our adult population vaccinated against COVID-19. This will give South Africa the opportunity to break the trend of projected slow economic growth in the developing world and join nations that promise to yield massive growth into the near future.

It is thus an individual responsibility for us to enable the economy to grow and uplift many of our compatriots, family members and ourselves out of increased unemployment, poverty and economic inequality by simply getting the jab against COVID-19.

Photo Credit: https://www.theadvocate.com/