Adam Garfinkle is a bit too pessimistic about the performance of the West during the Covid crisis. He’s certainly right that many mistakes were made (mostly by politicians and the so-called experts who work for or advise governments) but there is one spectacular success that he neglects to mention. It’s the development of highly successful vaccines which hold the promise of ending the pandemic.
The Chinese vaccines are duds but the Russian vaccine (to Russia’s credit) looks pretty good. But the go-to vaccines that everyone wants are made by Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and even AstraZeneca (who has a vaccine that’s not as bad as people seem to think.).
Soon we will have a vaccine from another Western company, Novavax, which is based in the Maryland suburbs of D.C.
Notice that China, Japan, South Korea and Adam’s home away from home, Singapore, are not on the list. India is good at manufacturing vaccines but not developing them.
Much of the credit for this unprecedented achievement goes to the vitality of Western pharmaceutical companies with a major assist from Operation Warp Speed. While Adam (and Claire) will be loathe to admit it; it’s the most successful governmental science endeavor since the Apollo project, and Trump is entitled to the credit as much as Kennedy was entitled to the credit for the moon landing.
It also bears mentioning that the three nations that have had more success than any others in getting vaccines delivered into arms are Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States; it’s an achievement worth celebrating.
Adam is right; the West has not exactly distinguished itself during the pandemic, but it has gotten more things right than he implies in his question.
Times New Roman? OK.
12 pt? Ok.
But I find 'left justified' to be a bridge too far---so far.
Great stuff. I read every word, even the grumpy ones. Mr Katz and Mr Snider both align with my previous comment. We need to adapt.
Adam Garfinkle is a bit too pessimistic about the performance of the West during the Covid crisis. He’s certainly right that many mistakes were made (mostly by politicians and the so-called experts who work for or advise governments) but there is one spectacular success that he neglects to mention. It’s the development of highly successful vaccines which hold the promise of ending the pandemic.
The Chinese vaccines are duds but the Russian vaccine (to Russia’s credit) looks pretty good. But the go-to vaccines that everyone wants are made by Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and even AstraZeneca (who has a vaccine that’s not as bad as people seem to think.).
Soon we will have a vaccine from another Western company, Novavax, which is based in the Maryland suburbs of D.C.
Notice that China, Japan, South Korea and Adam’s home away from home, Singapore, are not on the list. India is good at manufacturing vaccines but not developing them.
Much of the credit for this unprecedented achievement goes to the vitality of Western pharmaceutical companies with a major assist from Operation Warp Speed. While Adam (and Claire) will be loathe to admit it; it’s the most successful governmental science endeavor since the Apollo project, and Trump is entitled to the credit as much as Kennedy was entitled to the credit for the moon landing.
It also bears mentioning that the three nations that have had more success than any others in getting vaccines delivered into arms are Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States; it’s an achievement worth celebrating.
Adam is right; the West has not exactly distinguished itself during the pandemic, but it has gotten more things right than he implies in his question.