SLOWLY BUT surely the economic costs of the covid-19 pandemic are becoming clear. On July 30th America's statisticians revealed that the economy shrank by 9.5%, year on year, in the second quarter. Output in the euro zone fell even farther. Even South Korea, which has managed the virus better than almost any other country, has not escaped a deep recession. A vaccine would help end the economic chaos. Scientists and pharmaceutical companies have stepped up to the task. More than 150 vaccines are being developed worldwide, with six in final, large-scale clinical trials. It took the vaccination effort against hepatitis B-the disease for which the most candidate vaccines were developed-decades to make the progress that the attempts against covid-19 have made in months. The public-health and economic costs of the pandemic are such that, even as scientists beaver away, policymakers must grapple with two questions: how much to spend on vaccines, in order to ensure enough are made, and how to ensure they are distributed fairly.
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