The first one, that's capitalism, and while not perfect, I can live with it. If profits expedite progress, including a vaccine, so be it. For a pandemic, the average person won't be footing the bill.It's sad to admit it, but when a really bad pandemic hits next that's deadly, and eventually one will, a giant part of the world is doomed. Part of that is there is too much of a profit motive in healthcare in too many places, like the US, instead of doing medicine for ethical reasons or to help others. Another equally big problem is there is just too many damn people will end up not giving a ****, and won't even be bothered to do modest minimum efforts to protect others because they think it will infringe on their "freedumb".
If "a giant part of the world is doomed", then I'll say it again: Best possible outcome for the planet's ecosystem. There are too damn many people in the world and it's getting worse every day. Yes it will be a terrible tragedy and millions (billions?) will suffer but those who live through it will recover (look up how the survivors of the medieval black death plagues prospered). Best of all, dramatically dropping our population will give this planet a chance to recover from us. Pandemics are part of the cycle of life and act as a natural brake on overpopulation of any given species. The fact that we can use our intelligence and technology to fight back will blunt the impact except for those too stupid to do so and frankly getting rid of them is not a bad thing either.It's sad to admit it, but when a really bad pandemic hits next that's deadly, and eventually one will, a giant part of the world is doomed.
As I said about the Texas Lt. Governor who suggested that old people should die for the economy during Covid, You first *******.If "a giant part of the world is doomed", then I'll say it again: Best possible outcome for the planet's ecosystem. There are too damn many people in the world and it's getting worse every day. Yes it will be a terrible tragedy and millions (billions?) will suffer but those who live through it will recover (look up how the survivors of the medieval black death plagues prospered). Best of all, dramatically dropping our population will give this planet a chance to recover from us. Pandemics are part of the cycle of life and act as a natural brake on overpopulation of any given species. The fact that we can use our intelligence and technology to fight back will blunt the impact except for those too stupid to do so and frankly getting rid of them is not a bad thing either.
Lovin' the "glass half full" POVOn a happier note: half the passengers landing in Milan from China do not have COVID.
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Uh, oh - here comes XBB.1.5:
But now that the federal government is backing away from distributing the vaccines, their makers are moving to the commercial market—with price adjustments. Financial analysts had previously anticipated Pfizer would set the commercial price for its vaccine at just $50 per dose but were taken aback in October when Pfizer announced plans of a price between $110 and $130. Analysts then anticipated that Pfizer's price would push Moderna and other vaccine makers to follow suit, which appears to be happening now.
What should **** people off even more than just medicine being run as a profit driven business like this, which is already bad enough, is that they had massive taxpayer funding to help get it working. Then they turn around and have it cost more for the simple reason they feel like they can get away with it.Moderna CEO: 400% price hike on COVID vaccine “consistent with the value”
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And worst of all, the price increases, likely combined with other factors like people not getting vaccinated, even for free, means:
Fucking Hell. Can you imagine if you had to pay for the COVID vaccine? For over $100 a shot?
I'm fully vaxxed, and plan to continue to get boosters if they are free. But at that price, I'm tempted to roll the dice. And I'm willing to bet that many vaxxed people, either through choice or financial inability, will also skip the boosters too.
What should **** people off even more than just medicine being run as a profit driven business like this, which is already bad enough, is that they had massive taxpayer funding to help get it working. Then they turn around and have it cost more for the simple reason they feel like they can get away with it.