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Matthew Kavanagh Profile picture
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25 May, 4 tweets, 2 min read
Take: on list of important things to sort out during this pandemic, the origins (animal vs lab leak) is in the bottom half. It’s predictably getting attention disproportionate to its value, given politics. Need to stop ignoring instrumentalizing of global health Image
... I think @amymaxmen gets the story right here. And it’s not a story mostly about “science”
... and @MoNscience has a really interesting take here that I think helps put this all in context
#LabLeak is now fundamentally a story about intl relations, power, diplomatic maneuvering.. sure “unfettered” science might solve mystery. But can’t be naive. Very skilled, powerful actors are using this for advantage that has nothing to do with preventing future pandemics.

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More from @MMKavanagh

Matthew Kavanagh Profile picture
26 May
Argument that compelling knowledge sharing= theft=no future innovation simply not credible in context of #COVID19. Asks huge leaps of imagination.
1st: the imagination here is that a GLOBAL monopoly is required to incentivize science. India, SAfrica, US must be one monopoly...
2nd: universities, which have done much of research leading to these vaccines, will stop accepting public funds to research vaccines and such. Not credible.
3rd: $€£ billions of direct funding + adv-market-commit hasn't been what incentivized development of these vaccines? not credible. #COVID19 is the very best example of public-sector funding driving development on a clear, urgent outbreak. US, UK, EU funding drove dev. As planned
Read 9 tweets
Matthew Kavanagh Profile picture
24 May
breathtaking. declaring population-based distribution of vaccines to low/middle-income countries unethical but ignoring global allocation & WHY they’re getting 3% now;20% of pops vaccinated in 2021 via covax.
No! This is not an ethics frame work... nytimes.com/2021/05/24/opi…
How can you consider ethics while ignoring rich countries? Authors treat “nations expecting to have extra doses, including the United States and Britain” as arbiters of ethics as they vaccinate young and heathy people, refuse to share doses or knowledge? No....
No. The ethics prob is NOT attempts to avoid a crisis and cover all HCW in LMICs. Show me the ethical framework in which High Income countries hoarding vaccines should decide who needs the left overs they have more... no.
Read 4 tweets
Matthew Kavanagh Profile picture
11 May
Governments can do multiple things at once on global #COVIDVaccine access. At risk of over-political-scienceing: Need to disntinguish 2 agenda-setting arguments re WTO waiver as "distraction"
-Govts can't do waiver and X (not a real argument)
-Govts might use to distract (fair)
We know (takes Baum&Jones off shelf) govts have limited political attention:
Aside: FAR too little focus on political strategy for vaccine equity. I see this as core prob of COVAX. Political agenda occupied by sharing doses (implausible) instead of knowledge to produce.
But PLENTY of political attention to both do TRIPS waiver and do tech transfer + funding. WTO negotiations will be done by trade ministers/reps with significant capacity. Issues are straightforward. I can say talking to USG, WH+State+HHS have plenty capacity to walk + chew gum.
Read 5 tweets
Matthew Kavanagh Profile picture
11 May
Economists please meet the idea of multiple causality. Insufficient supply of vaccines IS driven by WTO rules & IP monopolies. It's not the ONLY cause. We also need tech transfer & funding & more
@ATabarrok gets so many things here wrong…
a quick list🧵
marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolu…
“Licenses are widely available” They are not. Most of the world has been dependent on ONE exclusive license to ONE manufacturer, Serum Institute. Many other high-quality firms could be making vaxs but monopoly holders said no. Because of monopoly they can. 2/11
“J&J’s vaccine has been licensed for production in… South Africa.” Nope.
One company has a “fill and finish” contract with J&N in SA. They have been been given the right or the tech to make the full vax or distribute on their own. Sub-contractors are not what’s needed here 3/11
Read 14 tweets
Matthew Kavanagh Profile picture
10 May
Richard Epstein says @MadhaviSunder & I are “panglossian” in calling for waiving TRIPS obligations as a piece of vaccine access puzzle. Doing so he provides great summary of baseless arguments against.
Steeped in misinformation and neocolonialism.
Retro to HIV circa 2000...🧵 Image
1: Africans, Asians, LatAmers cant vaccinate:
RE:“Local players—such as doctors, health care officials, pharmacists, transportation officials, & many more—all must be able to efficiently utilize these US technologies for any program to work. Do they have the capacity to do that?" Image
…Remarkable. If exact same hadn't been said on HIV in Africa I would be surprised. Yes, despite health systems weaknesses low&mid-income country healthworkers can provide vaccines. Yes cold-chain is tricky. Yes it can be, has been, will be done
The new "Africans cant tell time"
Read 19 tweets
Matthew Kavanagh Profile picture
6 May
The #TRIPSWaiver: lots of misunderstanding & mis-information on WTO & law.
A thread on why it's:
-not going to harm innovation
-not radical
- harmful to pretend it is
-not going to touch US pharma patents
-(as we all said) just 1 piece of #CovidVaccine access puzzle
🧵1/14
1)Those arguing TRIPS waiver will undermine the innovation that got us #COVIDVaccines are asking us to believe start-ups (Moderna, BioNTech) and universities (Oxford, UPenn) are going to stop taking public money to develop & trial breakthrough vaccines (!?) or 2/12 Image
or that major pharma companies are going to refuse to commercialize technologies with huge potential rewards ($billions from massive orders) that have largely been de-risked by public + philanthropic efforts if they are only promised monopolies in US, EU and other HICs… 3/14 Image
Read 14 tweets

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