The Race for a Vaccine

 What if an American vaccine proves to be the most effective vaccine on the planet?

For the past nine months, the novel coronavirus has ravaged the United States. This is partly due to its novel nature and lack of knowledge on treatment and prevention, but also due to the late action taken by president Trump and the selfish nature of Americans and their refusal to take the pandemic seriously. These factors have led to the United States to currently have the most cases of coronavirus. Luckily, vaccines made by American companies Pfizer and Moderna are looking promising. Late trial phases have revealed high efficiency.

However, the United States is not the only nation to face a spike in cases of coronavirus. High amounts of cases are currently being seen in India, Brazil, and most European countries. How will these countries be affected if the American vaccine proves to be the most effective? Because Donald Trump has rejected the COVAX initiative to provide equitable global vaccination, these countries may not receive the best vaccine early on.

While I think that it is very important for Americans to receive the vaccine- as cases are the highest here of all the countries and most people are fed up with quarantines and are no longer taking precautions- it is important to provide help to other countries in an attempt to eliminate the virus all at once. If vaccinations are only delivered to countries after the United States has been vaccinated, the pandemic will carry on longer than if the vaccine is distributed. It is also confusing to me that Trump does not wish to participate in COVAX and share the American vaccine, yet the outspoken majority of his supporters do not wish to receive a vaccine.

Something I find rather comical is that the US government is concerned with China potentially discovering a vaccine first. The primary concern is that China will not want to share the technology that allowed them to make the vaccine. Seemingly, Trump will be upset if China does not share its vaccine and technology if their vaccine is better than the American vaccine, yet has no intention of sharing the American vaccine if the roles were reversed.

The race to a vaccine between China and the United States is intense, as the winner will likely be credited with restoration of the global economy. 

As a US citizen who wishes to return to pre-pandemic life as quickly (yet safely) as possible, I do not care who is credited with the restoration of the global economy. I am more concerned with the restoration of normal and quality life.