As rich countries scoop up COVID vaccines, what about rest of world?

MEXICO CITY — The race to vaccinate the world against a once-in-a-century pandemic has begun in an all-too-familiar way: Every country for itself.

Rich nations have gobbled up nearly all the global supply of the two leading COVID-19 vaccines through the end of 2021, leaving many middle-income countries to turn to unproven drugs developed by China and Russia while poorer states face long waits for their first doses.

"Richer countries will be able to vaccinate ... their whole populations before vulnerable groups in many developing countries get covered," said Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Center at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

As a result, the pandemic may continue to kill people across much of the world for years, delay a global economic recovery and eventually resurge even in nations that manage to control it in coming months through vaccination.

Experts say the inequities are the predictable