Speech

Remarks for Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)’s Global Preparedness Summit

March 8, 2022

Thank you very much to Richard Hatchett and CEPI for inviting me to this important summit.

Speed and careful preparation are essential elements of a successful crisis response. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, neither were assured.

CEPI is working to change that.

This pandemic is one of the most significant challenges ever faced by modern medicine. When scientists began working on a COVID‑19 vaccine in early January 2020, the world was not hopeful for quick success. Previously, the fastest any vaccine had been developed—for mumps in the 1960s—took four years.

Yet the world responded with an unprecedented effort to fight COVID‑19. A safe and effective vaccine was produced in just 326 days. This effort, with scientists working together across borders, embodies the spirit of human ingenuity and global community.

And, it teaches us that, with global innovation and better preparation, we can further shorten the response time before the next pandemic—saving lives and livelihoods.

This is the vision of CEPI’s 100-day mission.

In a pandemic, the time value of action is enormous. The IMF’s latest update of the global economic outlook estimates the cumulative output loss from the pandemic through 2024 to be around $13.8 trillion. Had we been better prepared, we might have avoided much of this economic damage.

CEPI’s 100‑day “moonshot” objective is possible if the global scientific community has the resources to reach its full potential.

Indeed, this is a smart investment in the future. With appropriate pandemic financing today, we can address a systemic risk to global health and the economy.

Working together, we can build forward better from this pandemic: for our people, for our economies, for our future. Thank you!