[The Soup Nazi]

Two scientists are racing
For the cure of all mankind
Both of them side by side
So determined

Locked in heated battle
For the cure that is their prize
But it's so dangerous
But they're determined

Theirs is to win
If it kills them
They're just humans
With wives and children


From Zakaria's newsletter:

Is an International Race Bad for Vaccine Research?

The international race for a vaccine is on, and Elizabeth Ralph warns in Politico Magazine that it might not be a good thing.

“Friendly races can spur scientists to innovate better and faster, but experts in public health, biotech and national security see many ways today’s vaccine nationalism might backfire,” Ralph writes. “It can scramble priorities and lead to bad bets, as [Michael] Piontek [of the German firm ARTES Biotechnology] fears. It can goad countries to cheat and take shortcuts, ultimately rolling back progress. … ‘The danger in vaccine nationalism is that it’s not a race to the top, and of sharing, but it’s some sort of zero-sum game,’ warns Ian Goldin, a professor of globalization and development at Oxford University.”

Among the risks, experts tell Ralph, are that countries will rush research into sloppiness; myopically pour investment into one firm instead of spreading it out; or hoard vaccine doses, as was the case during the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak.

A closed-off, competitive mentality has already emerged: “[b]oth the U.S. and Chinese governments have recently moved to chill international research collaboration,” Ralph writes. “The European Union, along with member states France, Germany, Italy and Spain, have all tightened restrictions on foreign investment since the start of the pandemic, along with Australia and Canada. Many countries are already inking deals to get their hands on whatever precious vaccine vials might emerge first, and dozens have restricted or cut off exports of protective equipment, medical devices or medicines.”