Vaccine race

For half a year, the world has been actively fighting the covid-19 pandemic. The coronavirus has taken a huge toll on global economies.

In most countries, the peak of the first wave of the disease is gone. Now everyone is actively looking for a cure for the deadly virus.

Bloomberg Agency reported that the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and the European Union have agreed to purchase 1.3 billion doses of the coronavirus vaccine, which has not yet been developed.

USA and UK signed agreements with Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Japan with Pfizer. The Bloomberg article points out that the EU is also "aggressive" on purchases.

Medical corporations of the leading countries are in a kind of race for leadership in developing a vaccine against coronavirus. And this race is like a international competition.

Now the question of winning the race is not only an element of political PR, but also a matter of principle from the point of view of the self-respect of Western society. And, of course, it is highly important commercially.

The USA, China, the leading EU countries and Russia are challenging the leadership in vaccine production. At the same time, questions of costs and any possible risks fade into the background.

Against this background, any messages about the possibility of the early creation and mass use of the coveted vaccine cause a stormy and not always positive reaction in the information field.

For some (now I'm talking about the United States), being a vaccine leader would strengthen the image of "number one in the world." For others - a chance to compete for this title.

For the sake of success, politicians are ready to sacrifice the health of their fellow citizens. This approach can be evidenced by the statements of the chief expert on infectious diseases in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci. During a speech at a meeting of the congressional subcommittee on covid-19, he questioned Russian and Chinese developments and expressed the opinion that the United States would most likely not use vaccines developed in China or Russia. Although the American vaccine will be tentatively created by the end of the year. The corresponding statement by the chief US infectious disease specialist was published by The Wall Street Journal.

From such rhetoric, one can assume the subsequent development of events. If a non-US vaccine is developed first, such a drug is likely to be declared dangerous or questionable. And if the vaccine works, then surely the Americans will organize an information campaign promoting the thesis that the data for the development of the vaccine was stolen from the USA.

Information support for such a theory is already actively promoted on the Internet. Public opinion is preparing for the fact that competing countries want to turn the fight against the pandemic into competition.

In fact, the vaccine is still under development, with some countries announcing trials. The effectiveness of a drug against a new type of virus has not yet been proven.

But a significant number of doses of the as-yet-unreleased drug are already reserved by rich countries. There is an active informational confrontation between the parties. And no one seems to think that the vaccine may not be enough for everyone. And the giants don’t care about the fate of the poor states.