West dances like pandemic is over, while poor nations cry out for help

Poorer countries need to be able to produce their own vaccines. Until that happens, they will be left behind, writes Devi Sridhar

People wait to get inoculated against Covid-19 at a vaccination center in Mumbai, India. Hospitals have collapsed in several regions, with beds only becoming available if someone dies, and oxygen shortages are causing usually preventable deaths even in younger people. Photo: AP/Rajanish Kakade

The Delta variant of Sars-CoV-2 is causing major problems across the world.

Estimated to be at least twice as transmissible as the original virus, it is challenging the measures that governments took in 2020. Thailand and South Korea are seeing accelerating cases and deaths, after having successfully managed their epidemics last year.