There comes a point where the good of humanity has to come into the discussion... even if meetings are strictly cold hearted business matters, I'd think the positive press from a move to license your vaccine technology or set up factories to ramp up production in various countries would be enormous.
Doesn't help the overlords make money though.
Votes are secondary in that regard.
My uneducated opinion is that it would help with making money. Barring anti-vax types who would see it as an attempt to microchip the entire world, I think it'd sway at least some people to be more willing to trust Pfizer (or whoever's) drugs if they took this as a "let's show the world what we're capable of" moment rather than a profit taking one. It's the "halo car" of the pharmaceutical world - a loss leader that improves trust in the brand
Considering that the rich has accelerated with their wealth accumulation during this pandemic, they really have very little financial incentives to help getting rid of this pandemic. Capitalism usually does not help giant companies see possible longterm gains...
Without having some sort of philanthropic/visionary CEO or government intervention, profit will likely drive their decisions. Having more variants also meant more future profits.
Besides financial issues, there's also the trust issue that likely won't be solved even if big pharma decided to produce these vaccines vastly and for free. As we've all seen... vaccines in the US are pretty much free for all, yet, a lot of Americans just won't take them. We also have significant # of healthcare workers who chose to not take them too. So making vaccines free and available won't solve the trust issue.
You know 'big pharma' is going to get you in some other way.
Take for example, we recently need to get some asthma pump medication for one of our cats... a month's supply costs about $200! The same medication... we've discovered that could be purchased in Taiwan at a much cheaper price. $30 could probably get us a 12 month supply.
Western medicine also has this non-curing, just manage it philosophy. Forget about the opioid crisis for a minute... even in other kinds of care... Goal isn't to cure patients..., but just manage their care for as long as possible... hypertension medication is life long... insulin... dialysis treatments... these big money making treatments had no intention of curing anybody..., just keep you alive well enough so they make money.
Anyway, I dont' think it's impossible for big pharma to reform and regulate itself at this point. Will government be able to step in? Don't know. Biden has already done a better job that I was expecting though. However, in order to truly reform things, we probably need more Bernie Sander types. At the moment, big pharma probably has bought most of the politicians.
Last edited by Crazed_Insanity; June 17th, 2021 at 08:56 AM.
Aaaaanyway, here’s cause for more baseless panic.
And we have another outbreak in Sydney after a driver who takes international flight crew to quarantine hotels detected positive. And his wife. And now a few other cases.
They are not sure if he was wearing a mask. He also was suppose to do daily tests but only did 1 test and it came back positive.
I was in Sydney for a week, now back to the mountains. But ski season has just started and the place is crazy. Hopefully none of these people has brought it down with them.
Why baseless? Or you are being sarcastic again?Originally Posted by Rare White Ape
Meanwhile, vacc take-up rate is so slow here (thanks to Billi's buddies spreading and believinng propaganda) that companies are resorting to raffles to encourage it. One flat, 10 x US$25,000 credit cards, 3 Mercedeses, a Tesla, a year of unlimited cruises, a year of stays at the Shangri-la hotel chains, and all sorts of other goodies up for grabs...
I do know a friend from HK who wears masks all the time but simply refuse to take the vaccine. His wife works in service industry…, he said he gave her permission to take the vaccine if she wants, but he just won’t do it.
I really really wanted to ask him why but I hesitated fearing the conversation might turn unpleasant during our recent brief encounter at our front yard…
not sure if all the prizes will change his mind though… oh well…
Restrictions have eased up here. I went downtown with a couple of buddies last Saturday night. It was weird being out and seeing people. A lot of maskless faces. Anyway, after lining up for 45 minutes we ended up on a patio at Hooters. I have to say that masks make these girls look even hotter. There’s an element of mystery to them that you notice when you’re looking at their faces…(when you’re not actually looking at their boobs and asses).
Walked around for a bit after and was kind of depressed seeing all of the old lounges we used to hang out at being gone. Not just shut down temporarily, but permanently closed. Life has changed.
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