The implications for individual countries acting on their self-interest are radically different depending on the country’s size and power. Dependence on an unarticulated international procurement supply system of essential goods has led to devastating results for Latin America, mainly at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We cannot expect superpowers to willingly cede control and base their actions on the interests of the global community, especially under the resource-starved conditions created by the pandemic. To counterweigh the power of some developed countries, regional integration efforts in the Global South must be strengthened, and they must be at the core of new global health coordination models.