The writer is a lecturer at Leuphana University

The coronavirus vaccines are coming too slowly, and the cost of waiting is enormous. Current production and procurement plans mean it will take up to two years before the world gets close to having enough doses for everyone. This may be optimal for manufacturers, but it is not for society. There needs to be a plan B.

The world needs 10bn doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer or the Moderna jabs, which are over 94 per cent effective, to give two shots to 5bn people, enough to curb the disease globally. But their targeted annual production in 2021 is about 2bn units, combined. The Chinese, Russian and Indian vaccines are hard to judge, given doubts about their efficacy and safety. Most countries’ hopes therefore rest on the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, which is also relatively cheap and easy to distribute.