Covid-19 vaccination in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Photo: VNA)

A model built by The EIU shows that those countries that will not have vaccinated 60% of their population by mid-2022 will register GDP losses totalling 2.3trn USD in 2022-25.

Emerging countries will shoulder around two-thirds of these losses, further delaying their economic convergence towards advanced economies and fuelling poverty.

Delayed vaccination timelines will also fuel resentment, increasing the risk of social unrest in developing economies.

The Asia-Pacific region will be the worst hit in absolute terms, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the losses. But as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), sub-Saharan Africa will suffer the worst losses.

Around 60 percent of the population of higher-income countries received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine as of late August, compared to just one percent in poorer nations, according to the study.