“Some competition is healthy. You don’t want to put all your vaccine development eggs into one basket because it might not work,” he said. “But it shouldn’t be that the country with the deepest pockets is able to protect its citizens but in poor countries people die.”

Goldin said failing to inoculate the global population against Covid-19 would have long-term economic implications.

“As long as some parts of the world are suffering from the coronavirus, the global economy can’t recover,” he explained. “As long as it’s present somewhere, the virus can mutate, it can move, and parts of the world economy will be devastated.”