Vaccine nationalism standing in the way of defeating Covid-19

The failure of rich countries to lead a coordinated global response to the pandemic has been regarded as a moral failure. But now that the continued spread of the virus elsewhere is producing new variants, it has turned out to be a practical failure, too, writes Daron Acemoglu.

A woman receives an injection of the Covid-19 vaccine at the Science Museum in London. Picture: Victoria Jones/PA Wire

Although mass vaccination campaigns are picking up speed in the West, the end of the Covid-19 pandemic still is not even in sight. For that, the United States and other rich countries have only themselves to blame.

It has been clear at least since the early summer of 2020 that even with effective vaccines in hand, Covid-19 will not be stopped until populations everywhere have achieved herd immunity — when the share of people still susceptible to infection is so small that the disease can no longer spread.