I've had my first Covid-19 vaccine jab, drawn from the limited supply of the AstraZeneca doses that has made its way to the developing world. As a senior, I'm part of a so-called priority sector eligible to receive it in the Philippines, a country where less than 0.3 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated - versus 32 per cent in the United States. I'm one of the lucky ones.

Globally, more than 1.16 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered as of Monday. Over 80 per cent have gone to people in high-or upper-middle-income countries and only 0.2 per cent to those in low-income countries like the Philippines. At present, India is suffering from a devastating surge of the virus, with over 350,000 infections and 3,000 deaths recorded daily over the past few days. (These figures most likely undercount the full extent of the horror.) Only 2 per cent of its people have been fully vaccinated. While US President Joe Biden's recent deployment of aid to India is commendable, fresh supplies and 60 million potentially spoilt doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will not solve the problem.