Poor Countries Face Long Wait for Vaccines Despite Promises 235
With Americans, Britons and Canadians rolling up their sleeves to receive coronavirus vaccines, the route out of the pandemic now seems clear to many in the West, even if the rollout will take many months. But for poorer countries, the road will be far longer and rougher. From a report: The ambitious initiative known as COVAX created to ensure the entire world has access to COVID-19 vaccines has secured only a fraction of the 2 billion doses it hopes to buy over the next year, has yet to confirm any actual deals to ship out vaccines and is short on cash. The virus that has killed more than 1.6 million people has exposed vast inequities between countries, as fragile health systems and smaller economies were often hit harder. COVAX was set up by the World Health Organization, vaccines alliance GAVI and CEPI, a global coalition to fight epidemics, to avoid the international stampede for vaccines that has accompanied past outbreaks and would reinforce those imbalances.
But now some experts say the chances that coronavirus shots will be shared fairly between rich nations and the rest are fading fast. With vaccine supplies currently limited, developed countries, some of which helped fund the research with taxpayer money, are under tremendous pressure to protect their own populations and are buying up shots. Meanwhile, some poorer countries that signed up to the initiative are looking for alternatives because of fears it won't deliver. "It's simple math," said Arnaud Bernaert, head of global health at the World Economic Forum. Of the approximately 12 billion doses the pharmaceutical industry is expected to produce next year, about 9 billion shots have already been reserved by rich countries. "COVAX has not secured enough doses, and the way the situation may unfold is they will probably only get these doses fairly late." To date, COVAX's only confirmed, legally binding agreement is for up to 200 million doses, though that includes an option to order several times that number of additional doses, GAVI spokesman James Fulker said. It has agreements for another 500 million vaccines, but those are not legally binding.
But now some experts say the chances that coronavirus shots will be shared fairly between rich nations and the rest are fading fast. With vaccine supplies currently limited, developed countries, some of which helped fund the research with taxpayer money, are under tremendous pressure to protect their own populations and are buying up shots. Meanwhile, some poorer countries that signed up to the initiative are looking for alternatives because of fears it won't deliver. "It's simple math," said Arnaud Bernaert, head of global health at the World Economic Forum. Of the approximately 12 billion doses the pharmaceutical industry is expected to produce next year, about 9 billion shots have already been reserved by rich countries. "COVAX has not secured enough doses, and the way the situation may unfold is they will probably only get these doses fairly late." To date, COVAX's only confirmed, legally binding agreement is for up to 200 million doses, though that includes an option to order several times that number of additional doses, GAVI spokesman James Fulker said. It has agreements for another 500 million vaccines, but those are not legally binding.
On the "good" side... (Score:2)
They get a "buffer" in case something goes wrong with one of the vaccines, so they don't have to deal with the side effects etc with their less effective hospitals.
It's quite horrid that the whole corona case is a game of "guess which will kill less people".
Lock too much, people starve, lock too few and people die of rona, don't rush vaccine and get the two former problems getting worse and worse, rush vaccine and you might kill with it as well.
Re:On the "good" side... (Score:4, Insightful)
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The approved vaccines have been through phase 1, 2 and 3 trials, with the results peer-reviewed. The odds that there is anything in them that is going to kill people is miniscule.
They shortened phase 3 trials (which typically take 1 to 3 years) to about 5 months. That means all the side effects discovered after 5 months were not noticed. If you want to claim that it does not matter then you should provide a statistical distribution of finding side effects of potential vaccines over time. If very little potential negative consequences are found after 5 months of phase 3 trials then you have a point.
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Chemically, the Coronavirus is probably also no more dangerous than food. Just a bit of RNA (present in most food, I'm sure). Of course I am not completely serious. The precise sequence of the RNA (or mRNA) is quite important. The very fact that this particular mRNA elicits an immune response shows that it isn't normal food.
The reality is that the fact that this is very new technology means that there are likely new and unanticipated problems. Hopefully this isn't the case. I am not arguing here that the ri
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If you want to claim that it does not matter then you should provide a statistical distribution of finding side effects of potential vaccines over time
I think we'd rather get the vaccine and let you risk death on your own, rather than waste our time arguing with angry anti-vaxxers like you.
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The approved vaccines have been through phase 1, 2 and 3 trials
In poor countries? I can just see a shipment hitting their shores, the vaccines being given out and then some side effects we have not detected in rich, white populations occurring. Shades of Tuskegee.
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Maybe. I'd be surprised if that happened in any kind of systematic way though. The mRNA vaccines are easier to make, and easier to scale up production. Once India is done vaccinating their billion they and Pfizer will flood the world. The countries lower on the list might get proportionally more mRNA vaccine than the early adopters, depending on the timing of the approval for vaccines based on the other methods.
Re: On the "good" side... (Score:3)
The mRNA vaccine is more challenges to distribute though because of temperature sensitivity. Or am I mixed up?
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Source?
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They are lucky. The "other" vaccines only require one dose.
Not sure what the problem is... (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course the countries that funded and created the vaccines would and should get them first.
This just seems common sense...so, what's the article trying to say?
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His foundation funded most of the development at (IIRC) seven different companies, with the understanding that they would have a say in the distribution. Corporate executives tend to be lying sacks of crap, so I can't say that I'm surprised.
It's interesting that the US has only contracted for 100 million doses. Contracts for additional doses were offered in September, October and November, with no action. After the election results were in they just let the contract offer lapse.
Re:Not sure what the problem is... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, there are several things wrong with the article.
"The virus that has killed more than 1.6 million people has exposed vast inequities between countries". Exposed? Maybe "made you finally open your eyes to it" would be correct, but not exposed.
"as fragile health systems and smaller economies were often hit harder" On a per capita basis for both deaths and cases, the top ranks are populated by both rich and poor countries. Maybe they're less equipped to handle it, but again, what else is new? They're less equipped to handle a hurricane or an earthquake, too.
"Of the approximately 12 billion doses the pharmaceutical industry is expected to produce next year, about 9 billion shots have already been reserved by rich countries." Been reserved, because of investment. No shock there. But it's also worth noting that the vaccine isn't something with infinite demand. People can make use of 1 or 2 doses (depending on the particular vaccine). Beyond that, the excess will probably begin making its way to other countries as part of relief efforts. It's also worth noting that 12 billion doses is enough for at least 6 billion people, and the vaccines have not yet been approved for pediatric use. So there should be plenty to go around. It's just gonna take some time. Yes, rich countries will get it first. They got refrigerators first, cars first, computers first, new drugs and medical treatments first.
It might be ideal if the entire world had equal access to things, but welcome to reality.
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If the vaccine were being distributed based on medical need then many of the countries getting large quantities now would be waiting and many of the countries facing long delays would be getting it first.
Some people take it for granted that capitalism is the only way to handle the distribution of goods in limited supply. Need is irrelevant, only ability to pay. That's one of the reasons why the US healthcare system doesn't work well for many people.
As it happens though at the moment developed countries do h
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We don't go back to normal till the World does (Score:2)
Re: Not sure what the problem is... (Score:4, Informative)
" It is an old peopleâ(TM)s disease"
Right...
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wrec... [go.com]
https://www.jsonline.com/story... [jsonline.com]
https://khn.org/news/dying-you... [khn.org]
https://www.medrxiv.org/conten... [medrxiv.org]
And a personal anecdote, my friends 29 yr old son, had COVID and recovered. Except he now has cardiovascular issues that specialists don't yet understand. He was a very healthy, physically fit MMA practitioner...not anymore.
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Go to Peru and parrot this stupidity and someone will beat the crap out of you. It's burning through the country (possibly a genetic factor may make Andean people more susceptible). My wife has lost 8 immediate family members including a nephew in his early 20s, over a dozen neighbors that she grew up with, and the school that my sister-in-law runs has lost three teachers. Two of my brothers-in-law got it, one is still weak and recovering almost three months later.
So fuck you and everyone who thinks like
hmm (Score:2)
With Americans, Britons and Canadians rolling up their sleeves to receive coronavirus vaccines, the route out of the pandemic now seems clear to many in the West, even if the rollout will take many months. But for poorer countries, the road will be far longer and rougher.
There's only enough vaccine for 50M/328M Americans, unless Trump steals more. Is that because we're not a western country, or because we're a poorer country?
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Canada ordered a lot fo doses but most of these are to be received in a few months as well therefore the current target for non-priority groups appears to be close to August 2021 as well. In fact according to schedules I saw, Canada appears to be about 3 months late compared to the USA to get to the point where say, 70% of the population will be vaccinated.
Most doses ordered by Canada will end-up in poor countries in 2022 or 2023 anyways. So far only BioNTech is approved, Moderna could be close. And then pe
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So in short, only the UK and Canada have a process which values human life, and an economy which support that process? Interesting.
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Canada, the UK and Australia and to a lesser extent the EU seem to have mostly pre-ordered. As in, take my money, please make me a vaccine.
The US preordered a bit, but is mostly depending on options. As in, make me a vaccine and I promise I'll buy it.
Naturally you fill your paid up preorders first. But if you back the wrong kickstarter....
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The last that I had heard the US gov't had only purchased 100 million doses. The contract offer for more was allowed to expire after the election.
Definition of humanitarian (Score:4, Insightful)
Why is putting the population of your own country first such a problem? I don't see the issue here.
If someone were to *exclude* the population of another country entirely, that would be an issue, but the US definitely does NOT do that.
The US is first in the world to give aid during a crisis - hurricanes and earthquakes and such. We sent an aircraft carrier to Haiti to act as landing zone for supplies and to desalinate water and give it away for free. Our military helped keep the peace for a few months. ...and then we went home. We didn't conquer a nation that had fallen on hard times, we didn't add to our territories, nothing.
Vaccinations are a slightly different story, in that there are limited resources at the start, so someone has to be first and someone has to be last.
Also, since the first world countries are the ones with the production capacity, it makes sense to get them healed up first to rev up their economies so that they can *afford* to make vaccines and send them to the rest of the world. ...or would it be more humanitarian to keep the economy of the first world down in the dumps while we vaccinate poor countries?
I guess I don't know the definition of humanitarian.
I don't see a problem with putting the population of your own country first, maybe someone can explain it to me?
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Let me put your ethical quandry this way. We vaccinate the ones who contributed more even though their
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Also, I'd like to point out, the vaccines are not made in the US.
DOH!
https://www.bridgemi.com/busin... [bridgemi.com]
https://www.baltimoresun.com/c... [baltimoresun.com]
https://bioprocessintl.com/bio... [bioprocessintl.com]
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I'm all for rational self interest, but like all things nothing is workable in absolute; all must be moderated, even rational self-interest.
I know how this is going to go. Developed countries are going to get the vaccines first. Meanwhile the lesser developed countries will struggle. Americans and Europeans will sit there and pat themselves on the back for sav
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No, we got them in historically record time in large part because the Gates Foundation funded the ramp-up of the production lines. If left to their own devices the pharma companies wouldn't have started working on the production lines until preliminary results of Stage 3 trials were coming in.
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Consider two other people, one is a healthcare worker, and one is a programmer. Who gets it first? What if the healthcare worker lives somewhere like Peru that's being ravaged by COVID19 and the programmer is in Cupertino? Who gets it first now?
Ethically **ALL** healthcare workers should be inoculated immediately. The reality is that politicians and the mega-rich will be inoculated immediately and everyone else waits in line.
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The people who write stupid stories like this should be required to give up their dose of vaccine, or whatever other medicine they need, to others until EVERYONE ELSE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD gets taken care of first. Only then, should these writers be allowed access to care.
Let's say that there is a decision to be made. Farmers, processors of food, shippers of food the supply line of food from a wealthy nation that exports food to poor nations, or the poorest of the poor in those poor nations.
Let's not forget that a wealthier nation must have the economic ability to have excess food plus the infrastructure to send it to poor countries.
It shows a remarkable lack of thinking beyond the narrative of "Poor nations good, Wealthy nations bad!" Beyond the narrative that somehow th
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You have that backwards, poor nations are also exporting food to the US. Look at the label on the fruit and vegetables in your refrigerator. Sure, we export wheat and corn but we purchase quite a lot. That's called a "global economy".
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The entire mid east is a shit show because Post WWII the allies carved it up like a turkey with no regard to who was grouped with who.
Yeah...the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire [wikipedia.org] occurred after WWI, not WWII. And it was completely determined by the indigenous makeup of the people in the region:
The powers that be wanted stability in the governments that emerged from the fall of the Ottoman Empire. You don't get that by forming a country with opposing factions likely to commit violence against one another.
The pre-WWII borders of
There's nothing wrong with what's happening (Score:4, Insightful)
The most basic truth about obligations to other people is that our obligations radiate out in priority based on relationship and association to us. A parent's first duty is to their children, not to the neighbor and their children. Once that is satisfied, their obligation is to their neighbor's welfare and not the guy on the other side of town they have never met. Once that's met, they may proceed to the guy on the other side of the town. Repeat all the way out to "a country you will never voluntarily visit."
This universalism is unnatural and perverse. It teaches us that the US Government should be morally concerned with the idea that Americans might get better access-with our own money at work--than poor villagers in a dirt poor foreign country. Intelligent observers might note that this attitude is also completely corrosive to the idea that governments are instituted by the people to represent them and their interests and safeguard their wellbeing. A national government that claims to be "no less concerned with the welfare" of another people than its own is in fact "no more concerned" with the welfare of its own people than a foreign and distant people.
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I guess part of this depends on whether or not you consider the *moral and ethical* wellbeing of your people to be part of what you're supposed to safeguard as a public official. But part of the answer to that is to get the people representing us to stop making stupid-assed promises to people in other countries, so that we're not bound in those obligations.
Of the approximately 12 billion doses the.... (Score:2)
Human nature. (Score:2)
Honor dies where interest lies.
For once (Score:2)
For once, the wealth gap will apportion medical aid according to need. We rich types are twits who can't figure out how to deal with communicable diseases. The poorer countries are prepared, know what to do in an epidemic, and have quite good medical systems for dealing with it.
The EU and US have about 28 times the COVID deaths per capita Africa has.
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you're funny, poor shitholes don't have the high percentage of old people and they have plenty of other things to die from.
No problem (Score:2)
What are the real problems? (Score:2)
"Of the approximately 12 billion doses the pharmaceutical industry is expected to produce next year, about 9 billion shots have already been reserved by rich countries." If two doses per person are required, that would cover 4.5 billion people. There are about 1.3 billion people in developed countries. I'm not sure how those numbers square up. Maybe the rich countries like to hoard shots unnecessarily, or the reporting isn't quite complete.
The other big hole in the reporting is about China. There are s [cnn.com]
Re: What are the real problems? (Score:2)
Bingo. And in doing so, China will show that it's far more on par with being a first world country and world leader. It will have shown it's ability to rapidly develop and produce more complex goods, such as vaccines. When it happens too, the resurgence of conspiracy theories against China will be in mass. That China created this whole thing just to appear benevolent and a world leader... the future sure looks very funny and interesting...
Do you doubt it? (Score:2)
Math problems (Score:2)
"It's simple math," said Arnaud Bernaert ... Of the approximately 12 billion doses ... about 9 billion shots have already been reserved by rich countries.
Uhh, which part of the math is simple when global population is 7.8 billion?
Re: Math problems (Score:2)
Everyone needs 2 doses. Also some doses will likely have a certain amount of failure. Some vaccines need to be kept extremely cold and likely will have a non-miniscule amount that spoil.
'Open Source' the vaccine process (Score:5, Interesting)
A nations purpose is to put its people first. (Score:3)
Humans band together for the benefits thereof, not to be martyrs to others without regard to their own.
There is no obligation to remediate the chosen failures of other societies. Charity is fine but it's called "charity" because it is not compulsory.
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Re:Opportunity (Score:5, Informative)
Not really, just the Third World countries are getting leery of ever touching money from the IMF/World Bank. Belt & Road builds local ability to construct infrastructure benefiting a country's citizens, IMF/WB loans contract foreign companies to build infrastructure to benefit multinational corporations while corrupting the local political system. The difference really is that dramatic, and is deliberate. I highly recommend 'Secrets of the American Empire' written by a guy who used to help arrange the IMF/WB loans until he accidentally grew a conscience.
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Training has to come from somewhere. The major complaint that I've seen is that the typical Chinese engineer is quite racist towards their Third World client workers, which the government claimed they were going to address. No idea whether they actually have or not, but they'd be foolish not to and I haven't seen much in the way of foolishness in the way the program is being run otherwise.
Re: Opportunity (Score:2)
As well as the issue of fairness
And what issue is that, exactly?
Re: Opportunity (Score:3, Insightful)
This mental defect is the story of Cain and Abel, the Polynesian cargo cult, and all the flavors of Communism that have been floating around the globe for the last century or so.
It may be a pre-human atavism. Chimps supposedly go apeshit on other chimps who have stuff (snacks, shiny things, whatever) that they don't.
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Some of us SJWs feel like we should try to help people, are compelled to do it in fact. Too much Star Trek maybe.
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Some of us SJWs feel like we should try to help people, are compelled to do it in fact. Too much Star Trek maybe.
So, just how far does your generosity go? Would you be willing to give up your own vaccine in order to give it to someone in a poor country? How about your grandmothers or your children's? Would you feel that way if you lost one of them because your country couldn't get it first? Yes, maybe it is selfish, but just like they say on the flights these days, put your own mask on first...you can't help others when you've handicapped yourself.
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I'd say clinical need is a good basis. We know not everyone in our countries is going to get the vaccine, some will refuse it and some are incompatible due to allergies and the like. But with enough the virus can be controlled and largely eradicated.
My health is less than great so I might actually get it a bit earlier than others in my age group. I'd consider giving someone else the opportunity to have it first though. I can work from home and am at low risk of getting it.
Giving up our doses isn't the only
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Would you be willing to give up your own vaccine in order to give it to someone in a poor country?
A healthcare worker in Peru, where it's ripping the guts out of the population, is in need of it much more than I am, even though I'm in a medium risk group, so yeah. You wouldn't? Why?
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To be fair I don't think the people who worked hard to make these vaccines need billions of doses, a few thousand will probably be enough for them.
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The one we are getting now was developed with funding from Germany, so I guess they get it first... Although even if you ignore that a lot of the tax was from corporations it only works out at a few Euro per person in the whole country so they probably didn't work that hard for it, like maybe 30 minutes on minimum wage.
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The taxes I paid by working hard helped finance those vaccines.
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Which vaccines? My understanding is that the US one had no taxpayer money involved, the German one was partly funded by the German government and the Oxford one got some UK tax money but isn't approved yet and might not work very well.
So which one did you fund, or are you saying you go to the back of the queue?
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If everyone did need a booster every 12 months it would spur efforts to eradicate the virus entirely.
More likely I think that with widespread immunisation cases in those countries will drop to nearly nothing, and testing of people coming and going, combined with mass testing and immunisation in areas with breakouts will be enough. I can't see governments wanting to keep buying millions of doses every year forever.
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Other than the hand cranks that was life in the US for most of the population of the US well into the 1970s, and in 1978 my Driver's Education class taught us how to gravity-start a standard shift car because Detroit wouldn't admit to the reality that their alternators, starters and batteries were crap.
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Urban kid, right? Probably middle to upper middle class. Your personal reality wasn't the same as the majority of people.
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The thing is, western capitalism is far from being a system where you get to own what you make. The U.S. is full of construction workers who cannot afford a house like the ones they make every day (for example).
The U.S. has quite a number of people making large profits on the labor of others (meaning those others are not being allowed to keep the profits of their labor).
Corruption is corruption, whatever name you give it.
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Re: Opportunity (Score:2)
HK is fucked up because they are more likely Americans than Chinese. They even enjoy talking shit about China more than most Americans.
Maybe it being a western business hub makes it more difficult to stop them virus at the border but I don't buy it when Shanghai has done a rather decent job. The best way to explain it is HKers have a value system built more on personal freedom than collectivistic service. This whole not as badas America, it's still effectively one of the worst regions of China for contai
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I just checked.
Hong Kong Disneyland is closed. Until that is open life is not normal
Yes, I know Hong Kong isn't China.
Disneyland Shanghai is open, and Shanghai is definitely in China.
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China currently has 312 reported active cases for a population of 1.4 billion. Now I take it as given the China is lying to minimize the number of cases. But if the pandemic were running rampant in a population that large that would be impossible to hide.
The Wuhan metro area is almost exactly the same population as New York City's metro area, but it's only the ninth largest city in China. China was unable to contain information about the virus in Wuhan last December, when the numbers were still comparative
Re: Opportunity (Score:2)
China's immunizing their people fine. I think China and a Russia were the first countries to start. China is also selling vacanies to foreign nations.
China is not complaining here one bit. Africa and South America are the regions that feel like they are getting edged out.
Funny enough, I am sure China will come In and sell to these countries perfectly fine.
Also, you know the Spanish flu came from Spain right? But it's not like there is some lenient blame for that pandemic such that the Spanish owe all th
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Actually the Spanish Flu did not come from Spain.
Just sayin
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Also, you know the Spanish flu came from Spain right?
Nope, it didn't. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu.
Newspapers were free to report the epidemic's effects in neutral Spain, such as the grave illness of King Alfonso XIII, and these stories created a false impression of Spain as especially hard hit. This gave rise to the name "Spanish" flu.
If you read a bit further on, some of the earliest cases were in Kansas and US soldiers spread it to Europe.
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Oh, gods, are you one of the idiots who think they did it deliberately? I wish stupidity were more painful.
China already has their own vaccine, which they're exporting. They aren't asking for ours.
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I have coined the term "vaccine diplomacy", this is the second time I have used it.
This is just a recycled idea from food diplomacy to famine ravaged countries. That worked out quite well in the past. Read "The Ugly American" where food donated from the US and labeled in English was stamped with "Gift from the Soviet Union" in local languages when it arrived at the ports.
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That anti-vaxers twist this to make it seem like this is some conspiracy is unfortunate.
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A lot of development has been funded by the Gates Foundation, there's really very little money available for vaccine production from governments.
Re:possible bullet dodge (Score:5, Insightful)
Think of me as an anti vaxer if you wish.
It is much easier to just type 'moron'.
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inmates will get before most free people
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I don't even care that I'll be down modded into oblivion for saying this. But... are you joking!?
For a long time the USA has been that symbol of freedom and something for the whole world to aspire to. But for the last couple of years it's appeared to be in a steady decline. At least that's the impression us non-Anericans get when we turn on our news. I get the impression one side of the country is literally burning to the ground, the other side is recovering from being ravaged by hurricanes, while issue
Re: What are people smoking? (Score:2)
Maybe the point is freedom isn't to be totally aspired to above all else. Like many things there is a balance such that social accord provides security. In fact our founding fathers write about this "security" right next to concepts like the "pursuit of happiness". For many Americans this sense of security simply is the right to bear arms but the highlights the imbalance that she's a social drift between the intentionality that founded our nation and how it's founding articles have been preverted. So you a
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That's kind of the incentive to be glad you live in the USA
Which is why they are all swimming across our border.
Re:Care to get your narrative right? (Score:5, Funny)
Damn, you really beat that strawman's ass.
Re: Care to get your narrative right? (Score:2)
Wtf is Rona. It sounds like the village whore. "Yo man have you had that Rona. Shit, I got all short of breath and it was lasting for days. I mean damn that bitch so rough she fucking killing people, the way she leaves them breathless. "
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Hmmm. . .let's put this question to Jesus, shall we?
Us: Hi Jesus, how can we help people in other countries which, while believing in science, won't be getting any vaccines anytime soon?
Jesus: Whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren, you do unto me.
There you go, the U.S. and other countries should share.
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The U.S. has one of the worst problems of any first-world nation because Trump has encouraged the public to be dangerously reckless.
I disagree. Trump is a complete toolbag but I think you vastly overestimate how much he actually influenced behavior. I think people would have largely acted the same, they'd have just used different excuses.
Some of them probably would, but having someone in charge who was trying to influence behavior for the better might have at least made a *few* people not act like petulant two-year-olds. And pressure at the federal level could at least have resulted in governors passing mask mandates and other public health policies that would at least have made things a lot harder for people who were selfishly putting their comfort over other people's survival, which would also have discouraged at least some of them from
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If you care, this is a really nice visualization of the rates of death due to Covid-19 in red/blue states.
https://dangoodspeed.com/covid/total-deaths-since-july
It shows a strong correlation of higher death rates with red states, especially as time progresses. It isn't causality - but there's obviously something that is different in states that lean red vs. blue.
It isn't obvious what causes this difference - maybe it is Trump, maybe it is Fox News or maybe it is something else, but the end result is that the
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If you care, this is a really nice visualization of the rates of death due to Covid-19 in red/blue states.
Thanks for the link. Pretty good visualization. Tech-wise anyway.
It shows a strong correlation of higher death rates with red states, especially as time progresses. It isn't causality - but there's obviously something that is different in states that lean red vs. blue.
It isn't obvious what causes this difference - maybe it is Trump, maybe it is Fox News or maybe it is something else, but the end result is that the problem is worse in red states than blue.
I can tell you right now what one cause of the difference is. "Dan’s COVID Charts" chose July 1st as the beginning of his analysis. If you look at deaths per 100,000 for states since the beginning of the pandemic, [beckershos...review.com] a largely different story emerges. Here is the top ten since the pandemics beginning:
New Jersey: 200
New York: 181
Massachusetts: 165
Connecticut: 153
North Dakota: 153
Louisiana: 147
Rhode Island: 147
South Dakota:
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