One vaccine side effect: The risk of leaving behind developing economies

As Covid inoculations begin, the economic downturn stands to be reversed, but developing countries are at risk of being left behind

The end of the pandemic is finally in view. So is rescue from the most traumatic global economic catastrophe since the Great Depression. As Covid vaccines enter the bloodstream, recovery has become reality.

But the benefits will be far from equally apportioned. Wealthy nations in Europe and North America have secured the bulk of limited stocks of vaccines, positioning themselves for starkly improved economic fortunes. Developing countries — home to most of humanity — are left to secure their own doses.

The lopsided distribution of vaccines appears certain to worsen a defining economic reality: The world that emerges from this terrifying chapter