Now that Covid-19 vaccines are coming, what about poor countries?

If all countries cooperate, the world can achieve an optimal outcome and defeat the pandemic soon and decisively or Covid-19 will drag on and claim more lives

It’s now just a matter of weeks before shoulders are bared, syringes primed and vaccines injected. If last year was the one that gave Covid-19 its name and 2020 was defined by masks, gowns and swabs, 2021 will be the year of the vial.

This being a pandemic (from the Greek word for “all people”), that welcome development presents all the usual problems of global differences in wealth, power and equity. Rich countries have already placed their orders. Poor countries can only hope not to be left out. What should be done?

The question doesn’t just tap into the debate between nationalists