In monopolizing the supply of vaccines against Covid-19, wealthy nations are threatening more than a humanitarian catastrophe: The resulting economic devastation will hit affluent countries nearly as hard as those in the developing world. This is the crucial takeaway from an academic study to be released on Monday. Nearly half of those costs would be absorbed by wealthy countries like the United States, Canada and Britain. In the scenario that researchers term most likely, in which developing countries vaccinate half their populations by the end of the year, the world economy would still absorb a blow of between $1.8 trillion and $3.8 trillion. More than half of the pain would be concentrated in wealthy countries.

Source: New York Times January 23, 2021 09:56 UTC