Disagree. We should be honest. IT IS A ZERO-SUM GAME. Vaccine manufacturers are not able to meet demand. Production is already maxed out. If we hoard or have vaccines expire rather than share, that doesn't make it a non zero-sum game, it just makes us morally bankrupt.https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1438103141216575490 …
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Yeah. Even countries with money can't find vaccines to purchase. Honestly, I think vaccine manufacturers have increased supply as much as they can, and it's not really patents that are the key bottleneck. We needed government-level global action. Tragic.https://twitter.com/chasewnelson/status/1438117742209495043 …
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I've no interest in defending patents *but* I believe this belief to be a misunderstanding and a leftover from the HIV fight. Scaling up/transferring vaccine production in a pandemic timescale needs much more than opening up the tech. We didn't do it.https://twitter.com/murchiston/status/1438122674874691591 …
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It's appealing to believe there is a non-zero sum solution to the global vaccine supply crisis—magical supply increase via waiving patents etc. There is not. Not blaming individuals. Not saying boosters wouldn't help (though clearly some more than others). But reality is reality.
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If it's thoughts and prayers, why are companies and the countries defending them hell bent on not waiving them? Why are orgs like Doctors Without Borders supporting the waiver? I understand it's more complex, but surely it's part of the solution.
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I think part of it is muscle memory from the HIV fight where it was the obstacle (one of the most morally disgraceful periods in global public health). That said, I've no objection to obliterating patents, but vaccine manufacturing genuinely isn't easy to scale up or transfer.
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Seems like it's more than thoughts and prayers.pic.twitter.com/HJp8pD1UB6
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Some vaccines (like the Chinese ones you highlight above) are indeed easier to produce, and even those above did not happen by merely opening up the technology. Also, I think of the above, only Argentina is real with localization: the rest are headlines and, so far, vaporware.
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Dose sparing indeed. The phase 1 data suggest 25mg work about as well as 100 mg. Also it is not clear to me how much supply can be increased by throwing money at the problem (not amounts Moderna or even Pfizer can manage; I mean real money).
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