The Real Reason We’re Ripe for Another Pandemic
The threat of a modern-day pandemic is being discussed with more regularity in the media lately, and this has a lot of people wondering if there’s something around the horizon that we don’t know about. We all know by now how easy it is for a virus or super-bug to spread out of control thanks to our highly-mobile society. We all know that the key to minimizing exposure is to take basic, simple steps to protect ourselves, such as wearing a face mask and frequently washing or sanitizing our hands.
However, despite our best efforts, we are still all vulnerable to such a threat. Chances are that by the time we become aware of the next outbreak, it will be too late to do much of anything other than to hope for the best as we isolate ourselves as much as possible. While health care officials have gotten better at identifying potential pandemic-causing bugs as well as developing halfway decent responses to an outbreak, the system falls short in a very key area: Vaccines.
In fact, the lack of vaccines or the inability to produce them fast enough to curb an outbreak is probably the greatest threat that we face. While thousands could die in the initial stages of exposure to a new bug that our bodies don’t know how to fend off, millions could be saved if a vaccine could be produced and distributed in a timely manner. However, believe it or not, the vaccine industry is largely opposed to improving systems that would make access to life-saving medicine easier to obtain.
Bottleneck in the System
Vaccines don’t take a long time to create, particularly when we are dealing with a mutation of a virus that is already well-understood. Sometimes a little bit of tweaking is all that is needed to protect people against a particular strain. However, the system is not designed to switch gears with little notice in order to start churning out vaccines in mass quantities. One reason is that there are only a handful of facilities around the world that produce vaccines. Another reason is that there is little communication or coordination between drug companies and manufacturers as to how to work together in the midst of a crisis.
Many doctors have suggested that a new vaccine can be developed, tested and ready for mass-production within a couple of months. However, if the producers are not willing to share information, trade secrets or research with other producers, then other facilities can not start churning out vaccines. It all boils down to profits and competition, and the vaccine industry is not always open to the idea of making financial sacrifices for the sake of the greater good.
Compounding the problem is that these facilities are in multiple countries across the globe, and each one has their own laws and bureaucracies that need to be contended with before any progress could be made. Consequently, once information is shared, producers may need to wade through a lot of political nonsense and red-tape before being able to start manufacturing vaccines in large quantities for mass-distribution.
Time is not on Our Side
All of these roadblocks translate into longer wait times before vaccines are readily-available. Since outbreaks spread exponentially, a rapid and coordinated effort is required in order to get ahead of the crisis. However, as the system is currently designed, what could be done in weeks takes months. This can translate into millions of unnecessary deaths as cures are in the hands of for-profit organizations who have a vested interest in cornering the market.
This is something that a lot of people don’t realize, yet the reality is that the next pandemic may be caused by greed and an unwillingness to ramp up vaccine production due to the costs and risks involved. It’s a sobering fact that millions can die, a global crisis will develop and a game-changing SHTF situation will emerge because we put profit ahead of public health. So while we keep getting fed the idea that viruses spread through the connectivity of the modern world, the reality is that the next pandemic will most-likely be accelerated because of profiteering and governmental inaction, and this should have us all worried.
