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The 2020 Election Could Impact Americans’ Access to a Covid-19 Vaccine
As health economists Thomas Roades, Jenna Patterson, and Andrea Feigl-Ding write for the Health Finance Institute, the Trump administration’s work to remove the U.S. from World Health Organization (WHO) support and collaboration could put Americans’ access to vaccines at risk. They write:
“This unlawful and reckless action would have dire consequences for Americans, including barring the U.S. from the global system to design annual influenza vaccines and limiting U.S. access to other scarce vaccine supplies — at the very moment when we are in desperate need of a Covid-19 vaccine.”
While there are several vaccines under investigation by pharmaceutical companies in the U.S., there are other vaccines making progress from biotech companies abroad. The authors argue that there is reason to believe the vaccines being developed in China may have a better shot at being the first to reach full approval for widespread use. Read the full argument below.
