Speaking of selfishness, America just bought all of the remdesivir:
Remdesivir, the first drug approved by licensing authorities in the US to treat Covid-19, is made by Gilead and has been shown to help people recover faster from the disease. The first 140,000 doses, supplied to drug trials around the world, have been used up. The Trump administration has now bought more than 500,000 doses, which is all of Gilead’s production for July and 90% of August and September.
…Experts and campaigners are alarmed both by the US unilateral action on remdesivir and the wider implications, for instance in the event of a vaccine becoming available. The Trump administration has already shown that it is prepared to outbid and outmanoeuvre all other countries to secure the medical supplies it needs for the US.
“They’ve got access to most of the drug supply [of remdesivir], so there’s nothing for Europe,” said Dr Andrew Hill, senior visiting research fellow at Liverpool University [Sarah Boseley, “US Buys up World Stock of Key Covid-19 Drug Remdesivir,” UK Guardian, 2020.06.30].
US taxpayers did put a lot of money into developing remdesivir, but patients around the world risked their necks in the clinical trial that showed it helps treat coronavirus:
[Oxford scientist Professor Peter] Horby said: ‘The trial that gave the result that allowed remdesivir to sell their drug wasn’t just done in the US, there were patients participating through other European countries, in the UK as well, and internationally, Mexico and other places.
‘And I wonder how they would feel knowing now that the drug is going to have restricted availability in their own country and would they have volunteered for that trial if they had known that?’ [Emer Scully, “US Sparks Global Outrage After Buying Nearly All the World’s Supply of Gilead’s Remdesivir as Trump Is Accused of Undermining the International Fight Against Covid-19,” Daily Mail, 2020.07.01].
Our remdesivir-hoarding shows the real meaning of “America First.” Our global neighbors could respond in kind if they beat us to a vaccine, much to our detriment:
Hoarding remdesivir away from the rest of the world may not have particularly deadly consequences for other countries, but it’s the latest signal of a nationalist posture that could, if and when a vaccine is available, [NYU bioethicist Dr. Arthur] Caplan said.
‘I think when China has one, it’s likely want to keep its vaccines [for itself], and India for India, and Britain for Britain, and the US for the US, too.
‘We need to have a much more serious discussion about the future distribution for drugs and vaccines.’
China has already approved an experimental COVID-19 vaccine for its military members, and the UK currently leads the race among the rest of the world’s nations – so it could even be the US that loses out on the life-saving immunization as a result of the nationalist approach to development being taken by the Trump administration and, seemingly, much of the world [Scully, 2020.07.01].
Yeah, but Europe is opening the door to Chinese tourists but not Americans, so screw ’em, right?
Beat me by this much….
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/30/us-buys-up-world-stock-of-key-covid-19-drug
Now, would this supply be for U.S. citizens, Jared’s federal supply shelf or the Trump clan? Makes one wonder.
So Trump cornered the market like a gangster capitalist?
Indeed: hoarding the stockpile for the US is just step #1; now we need to see to which states or private entities or allies Trump will dispense the drug. Will he expect governors to be nice to him before he lets any remdesivir enter their states?
After millions of dollars in public investment, this medication is now owned by a private company, and a course of treatment will cost $3,120 — again, that outrageous cost is for something we, the American people, already paid to develop before it was given away for private profit.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gilead-coronavirus-treatment-remdesivir-private-insurance-cost/
Little wonder. “In a tight situation (the privileged twit ‘might’ wear a mask) Trump asks nurses and doctors to risk their lives, just like he is asking firefighters in the Black Hills National Forest to risk theirs.
Impeach this mthrfkr. Again. Before we re-open. Again.
And yet people will be surprised when – even at that price – it will be rationed out to Himself’s friends and family. BTW, don’t forget that Joe Grogan, head of the White House Domestic Policy Council, was the top in-house lobbyist for Gilead.
Addicted Addlepate will use that as blackmail leverage against anyone and everyone, including Americans.
If trump wins your state, you get the drug.
If North Carolina opens up completely for the GOP convention, they’ll get the drug.
If various Congresspeople do X, Y and/or Z, their state will get the drug.
And so on.
Of course, he’ll renege on any of those blackmail deals too.
Is there an implication that Gilead did not know this was a move by the US to get all the stock? Does Gilead bear any share of any outrage over such a bold, nationalist grab?