Kai KupferschmidtMay 6, 2023

“One of the greatest tragedies of COVID-19 is that it didn’t have to be this way,” Tedros said. The tools to detect and respond to pandemics better are available. „But globally, a lack of coordination, a lack of equity and a lack of solidarity meant that those tools were not used as effectively as they could have been. Lives were lost that should not have been.”

https://www.science.org/content/article/who-ends-pandemic-emergency-covid-19-deaths-fall

‘It’s still killing and it’s still changing.’ Ending COVID-19 states of emergency sparks debate

Moves by WHO and U.S. usher pandemic into new phase of disease monitoring, even as coronavirus kills thousands weekly

Show threadDeanBaker13
@kakape yeah, like we could have had full sharing of technology for tests, treatments, and vaccines, but the rich countries were so worried that some pharma company might lose out on some of its profits, they nixed the idea.
May 7, 2023 at 12:09amWeb
Show threadDeanBaker13May 7, 2023
@kakape And, our major news outlets are so deferential to the pharmaceutical industry, not one ran a piece even discussing the possibility
Show threadDeanBaker13May 8, 2023
@kakape And, just to lay out the issue a bit more concretely. We could have even compensated the companies after the fact. Would they get as much money? Who knows, but life is tough in worldwide pandemic.
Show threadDeanBaker13May 8, 2023
@kakape I suppose there is the argument that everyone would realize that without patent monopolies and related protections, vaccines, drugs, and everything else are really cheap. And, this could make it more difficult for the drug companies to charge patent monopoly prices in the future. I can see why they would be willing to see millions die to avoid this risk.