A long article, but who doesn’t have the time to read. Fascinating detail about how one lab is working and why it takes so long. Plus some really optimistic stuff about our COVID battle and a vaccine.
The explanation is wonderful about how vaccines both work and are designed today versus just a decade ago.
It also explains the benefits and the drawbacks of private enterprise in the vaccine field. Or put another way, research isn’t profitable, but production and sales are. So it seems a type of partnership is needed that combines Big Pharma and either philanthropic or government funded research. Of course, this has been going on for decades, but not so focused as now.
For a shorter article on the effort to work with Big Pharma and this same lab:
…”research isn’t profitable, but production and sales are>”
And based on Don’s post and what you stated here, I guess the private sector finally figured out a way to make a profit off of a national health emergency. Corporations are people, possibly even good people. But they are poor citizens.
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Despite Citizens United, corporations are not people. They are investments and a legal mechanism to make a profit for the investors. Period.
As such, like a car, they serve a purpose without moral restraints. The driver is responsible and will be licensed so long as he follows the rules.
It is up to us as a nation to decide what rules corporations, or any business, can operate under. Particularly with respect to behavior, worker rights and safety, environmental concerns and community responsibility.
Putting it plainly: our house, our rules.
IMHO
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…”corporations are not people”… SCOTUS says they are. Which is maddening in itself. But they have one goal and one goal only. Protect their bottom line, people be damned. When Trump invoked the DPA, this should have been his first move. Get the private companies working on this. Why he hadn’t is beyond me.
On another note:
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/495292-fda-to-authorize-emergency-use-of-new-coronavirus-treatment-nyt
It’s a treatment, not a vaccine for prevention. But it is a start.
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…our house, our rules.”
If only that were true. They own the house (but Mostly the Senate) and they make the rules. We see it almost daily. We saw in 2008 when it was Wall Street that got all of the help, not Main Street. We saw in 2017 with the tax “reform” law. And we are seeing it now with hidden tax breaks for the corporations in the second coronavirus bill.
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The idea of creating a vaccine for a whole family of pathogens based on DNA/RNA commonalities within the family is truly striking.
Thanks for sharing this article.
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Kind of like the MMR vaccine kids get these days.
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Actually, I think much better if I understood the article. Apparently the research is heading towards a universal vaccine “starter kit”. All it would need is to go to human trials immediately after a tweak. Then production.
I believe that it mentioned global warming as well as deforestation as two elements that will increase the likelihood of more pandemics.
So staying one step closer is a big deal.
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