D&D and the rising pandemic

[Dannyalcatraz]

I read this article today.

Can you be fired for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine? America is about to find out

A court date on an early test is coming up later in May, and that's just one of several lawsuits making their way through the system.

www.marketwatch.com

I tried following the link, but it didn’t work for me.

 

[Maxperson]

I tried following the link, but it didn’t work for me.

Weird. I clicked it in your quote of my post and it worked for me just fine.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Weird. I clicked it in your quote of my post and it worked for me just fine.

Weirder still- it’s working for me, now.

 

[Umbran]

I read this article today.

The article says it put the guy in an "impossible position". Says his was an "informed medical position". What malarkey.

You want a job in public safety? Then you have to act in accordance with the needs of public safety - which includes public health.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The case will probably depend on whether the emergency approval process of the C19 vaccines is considered legally equivalent to the regular vaccine approval process. That’s the only hole I see in the case.

 

[Maxperson]

The article says it put the guy in an "impossible position". Says his was an "informed medical position". What malarkey.

You want a job in public safety? Then you have to act in accordance with the needs of public safety - which includes public health.

I agree. It will be interesting to see how the case plays out, though.

 

[Maxperson]

The case will probably depend on whether the emergency approval process of the C19 vaccines is considered legally equivalent to the regular vaccine approval process. That’s the only hole I see in the case.

I've heard that a lot of the reason it moved so quickly was that 1) a lot of research had been done on Covid vaccines prior to the pandemic, so they had a strong base of work to jump off of for Covid 19, and 2) that the emergency process let them perform a whole lot of red tape steps that would normally have to be done sequentially, simultaneously, so they saved a ton of time there as well.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Pretty much.

Even though no coronavirus vaccine had progressed all the way through the regular process to approval, the vaccine prototypes for SARS and MERS were very far along when the diseases retreated from view. Those formulas and that science gave researchers advantages starting the mRNA vaccine research for C19.

Plus, there had been a LOT of discussion about how to handle pandemics between the major world governments. Some of the ideas- like temporary or permanent abatement of relevant international IP laws in regards to vaccine research- had been floated before. Others about sharing research/production tech, etc. probably got aggressively asserted as being best in the big picture.

(Note: I do NOT know the details of what was actually agreed to.)

So, with the scientists having a bit of a head start, and the politicians figutin out how to grease the skids- or at least, how to get certain barriers out of the way- we’ve never been in a better position to develop vaccines faster. At least, for the major outbreaksl. Orphan drugs will probably still exist,

 

[Umbran]

So, with the scientists having a bit of a head start, and the politicians figutin out how to grease the skids- or at least, how to get certain barriers out of the way- we’ve never been in a better position to develop vaccines faster. At least, for the major outbreaksl. Orphan drugs will probably still exist,

As a purely practical matter, removing patent protections may "grease the skids" this time¹. However, I think doing so removes the most powerful incentive drug companies have to engage in development. Next time (and there will be a next time) they will be less inclined to bother with rapid development of time-critical drugs.


1. Whether it actually would speed matters is open for debate - the supply chain for tools and materials may collapse if a bunch of other producers enter the market.

 

[Maxperson]

As a purely practical matter, removing patent protections may "grease the skids" this time¹. However, I think doing so removes the most powerful incentive drug companies have to engage in development. Next time (and there will be a next time) they will be less inclined to bother with rapid development of time-critical drugs.

I think you would be correct if the drug companies were funding it all themselves. AstraZeneca got more than a billion dollars in aid from the U.S. government to develop their vaccine. Other companies received huge amounts as well. Without having to front the titanic money investment in developing the drugs, they will still reap huge profits and that's all that really matters to them. If we do the same next time, so will they.

1. Whether it actually would speed matters is open for debate - the supply chain for tools and materials may collapse if a bunch of other producers enter the market.

I don't think they will collapse. They'll go to their limit, though, and then the smaller producers who can't pay to have their product moved will fail. The bigger companies will get their product out and the rest won't.