Less than a year after Gita Gopinath took charge as the economic counsellor and director of the research department at IMF, Covid-19 struck. Gopinath's prescriptions to overcome the economic perils of the pandemic are much sought after by academics as well as governments. One of her much-appreciated suggestions was for governments to shift to "equity like" support instead of loans to fight the pandemic. The IMF research team led by her also made a $50-billion proposal for universal vaccination by mid-2022, several of which are under implementation. Gopinath has always made an open case for equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines. "Low-skilled workers, women, and youth—vastly overrepresented in jobs where social distancing is difficult or impossible—experienced the largest increases in unemployment in many countries, exacerbating pre-pandemic inequalities," she says. In January, Gopinath will return to Harvard. — Joe C. Mathew