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Smart Development

Hoe we een COVID-19-vacin voor iedereen kunnen ontwikkelen

Apr 27, 2020 Mariana Mazzucato and Els Torreele

LONDEN – In de eerste weken van 2020 begon het tot mensen door te dringen dat COVID-19 wel eens de lang gevreesde en verwachte ʻDisease Xʼ zou kunnen zijn – een mondiale pandemie, veroorzaakt door een onbekend virus. Drie maanden later bevindt het grootste deel van de wereldbevolking zich in lockdown en is het duidelijk dat we slechts net zo gezond zijn als onze buren – lokaal, nationaal en internationaal.

Sterke gezondheidszorgsystemen, adequate testcapaciteit en een effectief, universeel verkrijgbaar vaccin zullen van levensbelang zijn bij het beschermen van samenlevingen tegen COVID-19. Maar om ervoor te zorgen dat niemand achterblijft zijn niet alleen ongekende collectieve investeringen nodig, maar ook een heel andere aanpak.

Onderzoekers van universiteiten en bedrijven in de hele wereld haasten zich om een vaccin te ontwikkelen. En de huidige vooruitgang is bemoedigend: 73 vaccin-kandidaten worden actief onderzocht of bevinden zich in een pre-klinische ontwikkelingsfase, terwijl bij vijf potentiële vaccins al met klinische proeven is begonnen.

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Mariana Mazzucato

Writing for PS since 2015
60 Commentaries

Mariana Mazzucato, Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London, is Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, Chair of the World Health Organization’s Council on the Economics of Health For All, and a co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water. She is the author of The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy (Penguin Books, 2019), Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism (Penguin Books, 2022), and, most recently, The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilizes Our Governments and Warps Our Economies (Penguin Press, 2023). A tenth anniversary edition of her book The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths was published by Penguin in September.

Els Torreele

Writing for PS since 2020
2 Commentaries

Els Torreele is a visiting policy fellow at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose.

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 7 Comments on this article

Effie Zafiropoulou Nov 17, 2020

Well we are not seeing a global alliance are we?It was called for in April and we are still at the 'MUST'stage.
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Joe Zammit-Lucia May 3, 2020

When you say 'for free' what does that mean? I'm assuming it means free at the point of consumption since doing all that you suggest will cost a lot of money. Who should carry those costs - and the opportunity costs of the displaced R&D and manufacturing of other stuff? Should that be taxpayer funded - in which case it is not 'free'.
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Ralph Musgrave Apr 30, 2020

The above article is nothing more than statements of the obvious dressed up in pseudo technical language. The first para says we are lockdown. You don't say!

The second para says “Strong health systems, adequate testing capacity, and an effective, universally available vaccine will be key to protecting societies from COVID-19.” Zzzzzzz.

And I do like the bit where it says that to develop a vaccine we need “clearly defined common goal: developing an effective COVID-19 vaccine(s).” I have news: to make a cup of instant coffee, you need a “clearly defined goal”, the goal being to make a cup of instant coffee.
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Michael Public Apr 28, 2020

My word. Even the hippies never had so much faith in the goodwill of others. Any vaccines will be private IP - sold for literally billions, available to friendly nations and not to China or Iran. This is simply how we roll.
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Norman Kennedy Apr 28, 2020

This piece is wishful thinking. It is highly unlikely that there will be an effective vaccine within the next 12-18 months. Why, because this virus is very challenging to say the least. As for compulsory licencing, this notion would never work as the technology will be too complex. There will likely be several vaccines that will emerge but the only effective one will use a multi-pronged approach that does not rely on stimulating the immune system like the ineffective annual flu vaccine. As for 5 candidates currently in clinical trials they are mostly early stage 2. Phase 3 clinical trials alone will take 2 years not to mention the time required for regulatory approval. Success is always in the details and this takes time.
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