While vaccine research has indeed been fast, there are some problems with how it has been presented here. First of all, there are multiple teams working on different approaches in different countries. This does not mean "humanity has come together" but rather lots of good science, driven by the mission as well as billions of dollars and the promise of billions more. Secondly, the Russians and Chinese already have vaccines that they are shipping to other countries. The US has not been the first, nor the Europeans. This is not at all like the Moon landing where one country led and has not been surpassed. Indeed, science is corruptible and has a political face as well, and the current president has done as much as possible to do just that, from a compromised CDC to defunding the WHO. Also, the vaccine for the 1918 flu pandemic is a real challenger to how things came together and where cutting edge science was done at an astonishing pace. It really is a worth reading about this, and I highly recommend the book by John M. Barry: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3369965484
Hey Jeff, thanks for your feedback. I'm not aware of a vaccine to clear phase III trials out of China or Russia, but maybe my western news sources aren't presenting this information to me. I'm excited to read more about the 1918 flu pandemic because these Pfizer and Moderna (and other) vaccines have had the advantage of decades of virology, immunology, and vaccine research (as well as a previous SARS epidemic) to learn from while the 1918 pandemic did not.
The smallpox vaccine was over 100 years old in 1918 and there were many other vaccines around at the time. It really bears reading up on this, and the Barry book is excellent and good reading for the science-minded. The founding of Johns Hopkins was part and parcel of scientific research at the time. Definitely read up on Chinese and Russian vaccines, as they are shipping this month (December). Indonesia and Argentina have already approved and received doses.
While vaccine research has indeed been fast, there are some problems with how it has been presented here. First of all, there are multiple teams working on different approaches in different countries. This does not mean "humanity has come together" but rather lots of good science, driven by the mission as well as billions of dollars and the promise of billions more. Secondly, the Russians and Chinese already have vaccines that they are shipping to other countries. The US has not been the first, nor the Europeans. This is not at all like the Moon landing where one country led and has not been surpassed. Indeed, science is corruptible and has a political face as well, and the current president has done as much as possible to do just that, from a compromised CDC to defunding the WHO. Also, the vaccine for the 1918 flu pandemic is a real challenger to how things came together and where cutting edge science was done at an astonishing pace. It really is a worth reading about this, and I highly recommend the book by John M. Barry: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3369965484
Hey Jeff, thanks for your feedback. I'm not aware of a vaccine to clear phase III trials out of China or Russia, but maybe my western news sources aren't presenting this information to me. I'm excited to read more about the 1918 flu pandemic because these Pfizer and Moderna (and other) vaccines have had the advantage of decades of virology, immunology, and vaccine research (as well as a previous SARS epidemic) to learn from while the 1918 pandemic did not.
The smallpox vaccine was over 100 years old in 1918 and there were many other vaccines around at the time. It really bears reading up on this, and the Barry book is excellent and good reading for the science-minded. The founding of Johns Hopkins was part and parcel of scientific research at the time. Definitely read up on Chinese and Russian vaccines, as they are shipping this month (December). Indonesia and Argentina have already approved and received doses.