Covid-19 provided the added fuel needed by the fire of nationalism/regionalism to gain further strength. Many countries believe that they have to protect the national interest by relying on local resources and expertise. This is leading to a race for the development of a vaccine by many countries. Is this helpful in the long run? Can we find the cure/vaccine faster or we are wasting time and resources.
I think this is a quite difficult question to answer, because there are two contradictory logic of how the development of the vaccine would follow.
First, the competition logic, the competition of nationalism between countries by now, particularly that between US and China, might force each side to pool its own resources to develop the vaccine as soon as possible, because each government wants to show their people that it is more responsible and advanced than the other, perhaps the competition could speed up the development by push each side to pay more attention and spend more on this frontier, but at the expense of other public services.
The second logic is the cooperation logic, this logic will spare every country in this world for unnecessary redistribution of the public spending, by pooling experiences, experts and knowledges from all over the world to develop the vaccine, it might be faster, if the coordination and cooperation can be achieved by the US and China, it could also be slower, however, if the rivalry continued.
I really prefer a cooperation logic, however, you know, the situation by now is so complicated, all are uncertain, I wonder if anyone could predict an accurate picture of what will happen next.
Ijaz Durrani
Thank you for sharing.
"This “vaccine nationalism” is not the right path for combating covid-19".
Ed Kerns
You are correct.
The nationalism that define " other" or "us" and "them" will not survive in the interconnected world of today. Short-sighted individuals might see the short term gains tempting, but in the long run, it will not benefit anyone.
I think this is a quite difficult question to answer, because there are two contradictory logic of how the development of the vaccine would follow.
First, the competition logic, the competition of nationalism between countries by now, particularly that between US and China, might force each side to pool its own resources to develop the vaccine as soon as possible, because each government wants to show their people that it is more responsible and advanced than the other, perhaps the competition could speed up the development by push each side to pay more attention and spend more on this frontier, but at the expense of other public services.
The second logic is the cooperation logic, this logic will spare every country in this world for unnecessary redistribution of the public spending, by pooling experiences, experts and knowledges from all over the world to develop the vaccine, it might be faster, if the coordination and cooperation can be achieved by the US and China, it could also be slower, however, if the rivalry continued.
I really prefer a cooperation logic, however, you know, the situation by now is so complicated, all are uncertain, I wonder if anyone could predict an accurate picture of what will happen next.
Yes and no) One of the problems in fighting with COVID - is the lack of organization centers. For example - there were about 30 clinical trials for 2 types of drugs, both types were failed. Meanwhile, about 8 clinical trials for the drugs which have shown effectiveness in-vivo after COVID-1 in 2005 (ARB and, potentially iACE) are still in the recruiting stage. Some authority must distribute the trials more effectively. The only hope was on the national authorities, but they also did not take control.
Shutian Liu
Thank you for covering both aspects of this issue. Appreciate your comments.
Igor Zadesenets
We will reach to a vaccine sooner if the international community (governments) cooperate. At national level, most countries are overwhelmed by the problems caused by COVID -19 and in effect are trying to put out the fire at National level. Sooner the big boys! come to their senses the better.
I see the analogy with the Problem Solving. If the quality of solution is most important, the search must be as free, as possible. In case of time/resources limitation the search should be directed. And this is our case now. In this case coordination, even conduction is the most important. The international organizations, as appeared, are not able to conduct the research. May be some governments can raise the flag.
Igor Zadesenets
There are a lot of efforts going on at the local level. Every country is mobilized and are doing their best. of course we have to recognize existing limitations.
If it was possible to gather all the brilliant scientist minds under one umbrella, we would have Vaccine by now. the problem is some politicians can not comprehend that COVID-19 and other Pandemic like it are a threat to the world and, you can not protect your own country and leave the rest vulnerable without paying the price for it.
Only in Russia 17 vaccines was created, one is finishes II clinical trials stage now. As I heard, leaders here are China, USA (with cooperation with German company), GB. The bottleneck is clinical trials, not vaccine development. Situation would be drastically better, if the right cure was developed. And here interesting phenomena can be observed. Lessons of the previous COVID epidemic were forgotten. Look at this article, for example: https://www.nature.com/articles/nm1267. It describes the pathology and treatment of the cognate disease with well-known drugs. What treatment should be studied first for the current disease? Actually, clinical trials were started only after surveys, shown the effectiveness of one of the kinds of such drugs (iACE). After 6 month from the start of epidemic! So, one of the potential solutions was known and not checked. For my opinion, this happened because all brilliant minds try to put forward their own ideas. Collecting all brilliant minds together will only increase the turbulence
When they cannot achieve their goals, the rational parties unite to achieve common results. When they do not achieve what they want, associations lose their meaning, become a burden and often fall apart. But along the common path, they build relationships that transcend the boundaries of the rational and build limited rational and even irrational relationships. In conditions of uncertainty and high risk, the role of irrational ideas for establishing aspirations and ambitions prevails. They build the ideas of selfishness and altruism. Nationalism is a kind of selfishness, the fruit of limited rational and, in extreme cases, irrational ideas for exceeding the assessments of one's own image and role. Entering this zone does nothing good for solving specific security cases, as well as for humanity as a whole.
The term nationalism is not acceptable for the case of developing a vaccine for COVID-19, if the competition of the countries leads to a successful result in the fight against the virus.
Ijaz Durrani
UN chief is warning about lack of cooperation among member stares Tilcho Ivanov
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief criticized the total lack of international coordination in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday and warned that the go-it-alone policy of many countries will not defeat the coronavirus. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an interview with The Associated Press that what needs to be done is to make countries understand that by acting in isolation “they are creating the situation that is getting out of control” — and that global coordination is key.
Coronavirus will never, ever be over, just like Influenza will never, ever be over. Since that fateful day when somebody in Wuhan decided to snack on a bat, or a snake, or a wolf or whatever it was, the course of history was changed forever.
The Coronavirus as we know it has found a good host. And when a virus finds a good host, it is part of the host species’ existence forever.
It appears that this Coronavirus is very adept at mutation, which is how it got to humans in the first place. So no matter what vaccination is brought out, Coronavirus will circumvent it with mutation, just like the ‘flu does
Tilcho Ivanov
If competition (nationalism) lead to a faster development of Vaccine for COVID-19 everyone welcomes it. However I tend to agree with your statement that " Entering this zone does nothing good for solving specific security cases, as well as for humanity as a whole".
Ijaz Durrani
Fully agree with your observation that " There is a saber rattling competition, a furious contemporary strife as to who wins the race'. It is becoming bolder each day!.
https://apnews.com/ffc84d09363ba0a1a0e6db3c05bb8322
one of the drugs currently in the pipeline for approval gets approved, provided there is a quick channel without bureaucracy, the drug may reach the market in several months. If none of the existing drugs worked and a new compound was identified as a potential drug for covid-19, it will still take years to reach the market without compromising the safety and side-effects. Worst case scenario could be, like many viral diseases, we may never find a cure. Leaving you with your immune system to fight against it.
Phase 0: Administered on a small number of volunteers, approximately 10 volunteers. The objective here is to test if the drug has high toxicity. Does it cause substantial damage even on a small dosage?
Phase 1: Tested on approximately 20 t0 80 volunteers. The objective of this phase is to determine the lethal dose. How much of the drug can be administered without causing substantial damage to the subject?
Phase 2: Tested on approximately 100 to 300 volunteers. Within the lethal dose, how effective is the drug in inhibiting the disease?
Phase 3: Large scale testing of 1000 to 3000 patients (not volunteers) for efficacy and side effects. This is usually a long term study and can take from several months to several years. Most long term side effects of drugs usually show up at this phase and get rejected. Following this phase, if successful, the drug may be recommended for approval.
Phase 4: Monitoring the drug behavior on humans after distributing it in the market. A drug may be pulled off if long term side-effects are identified.
The United States said Wednesday that it has ordered China to close its consulate in Houston "to protect American intellectual property" and the private information of Americans.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-consulate-houston-united-states-orders-closed/
Russia’s approval of a COVID-19 vaccine. Nationalism or pure business strategy?
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/08/russia-s-approval-covid-19-vaccine-less-meets-press-release
Quick development or delay whatever it is, vaccine nationalism should be a crime in this global crisis. We need an effective vaccine and want to see its equitable distribution.
Muhammed Ashraful Alam
Let us hope that all of these competitions are for national pride only and not for blackmailing and depriving other countries from the use of the developed COVID-19 vaccine.
World Health Organization chief warns against COVID-19 ‘vaccine nationalism’, urges support for fair access.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/08/1070422
Taiwan approves first COVID-19 vaccine for human trials
https://www.biospectrumasia.com/news/37/16567/taiwan-approves-first-covid-19-vaccine-for-human-trials.html
Mahmoud Moghavvemi
Dear Researcher,
You have developed a unique angle to see the COVID-19 problem.
I had always believed since the commencement of this pandemic, that if a nation successfully makes the vaccine, that nation will automatically become the super power (if it is already not). And, I see no reason to believe that a super power will think of the world and not about itself.
So, yes, I strongly believe and agree with you that nationalism is a factor that will influence the vaccine for COVID-19, at least it will influence the distribution and sales of it.
You have asked a question that will it help in the future. Well, no nation will give it to others before giving it to its citizens. So when people in one country will get cured, the same in other parts of the world will continue to infect themselves and increase the number. Personally I am not very hopeful that it will help in the long run.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Anamitra.
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