COVID-19 response: Where we stand now, and the road ahead Image The world is now a full year into the COVID-19 pandemic—both the health emergency and the global economic crisis it has generated. Its impacts have touched every person in every country, causing illness and death, disrupting livelihoods, and potentially pushing an estimated 150 million more people into extreme poverty around the globe by the end of 2021. And while the rapid development of vaccines offers all of us some hope, we know that the pandemic will continue to dominate our lives in 2021. Although we are far from the end of this crisis, it’s worth taking a look at where we are now and what needs to happen next. Recently I joined a roundtable on the World Bank’s Development Podcast to take stock of the early progress and ongoing challenges in the global response to the coronavirus. I’d like to share a few takeaways from that discussion.