COVID-19 vaccine

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1st Official Post

    Of utmost importance to the world’s fight against covid-19 is making sure that all countries in the world have access to enough serum to vaccinate their people. Work is already being done on that front:


    [From the NYT today, 12 March 2021]

    The U.S. will partner with Japan, India and Australia to expand global vaccine supply.


    The Biden administration, under intense pressure to donate excess coronavirus vaccines to needy nations, is moving to address the global shortage in another way: by partnering with Japan, India and Australia to finance a dramatic expansion of the vaccine manufacturing capacity....

    As part of the deal, President Biden pledged financial support to a major Indian manufacturer, which would expand global manufacturing capacity by at least one billion doses in 2022....

    The agreement was announced Friday at the Quad Summit, a virtual meeting between the heads of state of those four countries, which President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris attended Friday morning. The goal, senior administration officials said, is to address an acute vaccine shortage in Southeast Asia, which in turn will boost worldwide supply....

    The financing agreement the administration will unveil at Friday’s Quad Summit is aimed at creating capacity to make and deliver as many as an additional billion doses in 2022 to support global demand, the officials said....

    The administration has recently been in talks with international partners, including those backing a World Health Organization vaccine program, known as Covax, about various ways to boost global vaccine supply, including by paying for companies to manufacture more doses that can then be released overseas, ....

    The Times, 18 March, 2021:


    “Under-50s in Britain will have to wait longer for their coronavirus jab after the NHS warned last night of a four-week supply drought. Vaccine centres have also been told to halt any bookings of new appointments for next month.


    Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, has suggested that the EU is acting like a dictatorshipafter it threatened to use emergency powers to grab "Europe's fair share" of vaccines from Britain.”


    I’m just wondering how the EU can use “emergency powers” to force the UK to send more vaccine?

    • Official Post

    What a bunch, ffs.

    Fernandez is not allowing vaccines to be acquired privately, ie. with your medical plan etc. We all know the real reason for this, which is that they don't want to share the pie of their corruption.

    And so the president of Peronia is now the top authority on Covid vaccinations. Yeah, right. :oops:

    https://tn.com.ar/politica/202…zo-la-compra-de-privados/


    Edit

    This is a really awful, if predictable, situation. With the $1.3 billion dollar research & development subsidy provided by the US taxpayers, this company needs to provide vaccine to countries desperate for COVID protection.


    NOW.



    Moderna opts for profits

    Moderna has been supplying its coronavirus vaccine almost exclusively to wealthy nations, keeping poorer countries waiting while it earns billions in profit.

    The company has shipped a greater share of its doses to wealthy countries than any other vaccine manufacturer, according to a data firm that tracks vaccine shipments.

    Of the 22 countries, plus the E.U., to which Moderna and its distributors have reportedselling the shots, none are low income. And most middle-income countries that have struck deals with Moderna have not received any doses. At least three others are paying higher prices.

    Botswana, Thailand and Colombia have said they are paying $27 to $30 per dose, more than the U.S. (which paid $15 to $16.50 for each shot) or the E.U. (which paid $22.60 to $25.50).

    “They are behaving as if they have absolutely no responsibility beyond maximizing the return on investment,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, a former head of the C.D.C.

    The need is real: Dozens of poorer countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East, had vaccinated less than 10 percent of their populations as of Sept. 30.

    Moderna’s vaccine — the only product it makes — appears to be the world’s best defense against Covid-19. But the company is not delivering on its promises. In May, Moderna agreed to provide Covax with up to 34 million vaccine doses this year, plus up to 466 million doses in 2022. Covax says Moderna has not yet shipped any of those doses.

    The Biden administration is increasingly frustrated.

    The U.S. government provided the company with critical scientific assistance and $1.3 billion for research, and agreed to preorder $1.5 billion of the vaccine. Officials have been pressing Moderna executives to expand U.S. production or license its technology to overseas manufacturers. But administration officials say they have seen little cooperation from Moderna to expand global access.

    The company has said it expects its vaccine to generate at least $20 billion in revenue this year, which would make its vaccine one of the most lucrative medical products in history. In 2019, Moderna reported total revenue of $60 million, and the company’s market value has nearly tripled this year to more than $120 billion.

    NYT, 11 October, 2021

    As of last month, China has exported 1.2 billion doses of vaccines, largely made by Sinopharm and Sinovac, according to the Foreign Ministry.

    But this week, a new WHO decision has cast fresh doubt on the continued efficacy of these new tools for many millions who had received them. This means people who had received two doses of either Sinopharm and Sinovac could seek third doses, potentially of another vaccine, constraining an already limited global supply.


    Washington Post, 13 October, 2021