Those who expected that a pandemic would bring the world together in a quest to overcome it as one might get disappointed. A few months in, the search for a vaccin has become a political, economical and prestigious race. A small overview of recent events:
In reaction to the news of China making progress on their vaccin, with the first test results on humans being positive, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb predicted the US would have a “better” vaccine than China – and it will have it sooner.
China vs the world?
In the CBS program Face of the Nation Gottlieb told Margaret Brennan that the data as evidence on the clinical development of potential vaccines in China “didn’t look overwhelmingly strong”. He furtherly questioned if the vaccines would work and if they did, in what terms they would provide immunity. At least in comparison to the vaccine that the US and Europe is developing.
There are, fortunately, developments that back these claims. University of Oxford and AstraZeneca in the U.K., as well as another by U.S. firm Moderna Therapeutics and Swiss drugmaker Lonza.
The 2020 Space race edition
The expectancy from popular world leaders is that a vaccin can be rolled out to the masses by the end of the year. Scientists, who have a bit better understanding of how long these procedures take expect this to happen in 2021. The question is what the price will be for countries to vaccinate their population and whether every country will get treated the same. We can only hope this crisis brings out the best in people, not the worst.
It is like the space race all over again. Even if one country will find a vaccin or cure first, the other will claim theirs took longer but will be better. Let us hope that there is at least the willingness to share information once it is obtained. And yes, whoever it will be, you will still be granted the honours of being the savior of the human race.
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