While the procurement industry is consistently evolving and shifting, 2021 begins after a truly unprecedented year. In 2020, Chief Procurement Officers and their teams were forced to face massive disruptions, extreme threats, and entirely new challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. By and large, procurement leaders worked valiantly to ensure business continuity, build supply chain resilience, and prepare their enterprises for the next economic phase. Against this backdrop, procurement has never been more important to business operations and business results. We continue with some key procurement predictions for the year.

Prediction: The Vaccines Work and Countries Slowly Gain Control over COVID

The second year of this new decade continues amidst great uncertainty and a global pandemic that will get worse before it gets better. 2021 will be a year of transition, as the world begins to operate in a post-COVID-19 world that will be driven by new ideas, new innovations, and new leaders. Here are Ardent Partners’ top predictions for the year.

In world-record time, a handful of companies have developed, tested, and launched a COVID-19 vaccine. Several others are close to introducing a vaccine too. In the U.S., vaccinations are now being administered at the rate of 1MM shots per day and expected to rise via a new, federally-managed process. The vaccines have been available to the front-line first responders since late 2020 and there is now a prioritized order as to who is to receive the vaccine next.

Over the first few months of 2021, a large number of “Phase I” recipients (those most at risk who are qualified based upon their age, profession, or health condition) will receive their first dose, with the second dose following three weeks later.

While no vaccine is guaranteed to work 100%, it appears to most expert observers that the vaccines are working to inoculate recipients against the virus or, at least, against the most severe symptoms of the virus. This is positive news.

It is going to take months for the vaccine to begin to have a significant impact on society as a whole. And, while new strains of the virus may develop, Ardent Partners predicts that as we proceed deeper into the year that a majority of developing countries will begin to feel like they have better control over the virus and be in a much better position to fight against it. This will lead to productive discussions and plans focused on operating in a post-COVID-19 world.

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