The COVID vaccine arms race and the struggles of the supply chain

The specter of coronavirus vaccine nationalism looms large and could prove a collective action catastrophe for the world.

Good afternoon, readers. And welcome to another edition of The Capsule.

When the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) speaks to a health catastrophe afflicting the entire world, it’s probably prudent to listen. Whether or not we’ll actually do so is another question.

But WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus isn’t mincing words about the arms race to secure coronavirus vaccine doses—and what it could mean for global health.

“We need to prevent vaccine nationalism,” he said bluntly in press remarks last week.

Readers know that supply chain constraints have sucked up resources around the world as private firms and national governments struggle to provide everything from protective gear to basic supplies such as plastic pipette tips and plate to conduct coronavirus tests.

The battle to secure as many vaccine doses as possible, once approved, could prove an even messier fight given that a limited number of companies are trying to address the problems of the entire world.

“Supply nationalism exacerbated the pandemic and contributed to the total failure of the global supply chain,” said Tedros. “This is not charity. We have learned the hard way that the fastest way to end this pandemic and to reopen economies is to start by protecting the highest-risk populations everywhere, rather than the entire populations of just some countries.”

As I wrote earlier this week, we’ll see if the world listens.

Read on for the day’s news, and see you again next week.

Sy Mukherjee
sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com
@the_sy_guy