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While mass vaccine rollouts offer some people a glimmer of hope, most of the world’s population will remain unprotected for quite some time. The virus has claimed some two million lives and wrought economic devastation worldwide. Too many of our leaders have been found wanting. Post-pandemic political leadership will be a crucial test of the world’s ability to rise to these challenges. In a pandemic, we cannot hope to recover fully or repair our social fabric unless we affirm and apply the principles of multilateralism and solidarity.īut there is no doubt that the future will be rife with existential threats: new pandemics, the climate crisis, nuclear conflict, and other risks that we cannot ignore. It would be unpardonable if these precious vaccines were not equitably distributed around the world. We have made remarkable progress on vaccines, and a new US administration brings hope of renewed multilateral cooperation. The Covid-19 pandemic has served as a stark and deadly demonstration of the precariousness of our way of life. It is hardly reassuring that we came no closer to midnight this year. In 2020, the clock’s hands moved closer to “midnight” than they have ever been – just 100 seconds away – and they will remain there in 2021. Last January, my fellow Elders Mary Robinson and Ban Ki-moon participated in the unveiling of the Doomsday Clock, the annual indicator of global catastrophic risk published by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.