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Besides I'm not sure supply constraint would be a big problem, i think there are quite lot of people that understand the actual risk of getting seriously sick from covid and wouldn't be that eager to get a vaccine.
After all, it's the strategy that allowed us to feed and shelter a planet of 8 billion.
But in reality the vaccine distribution is made through policy and politics. Because this strategy worked so well back in March, with the PPE. If this doesn't prove that we live under socialism, I don't know what will.
So check if you have a friend in high places, if you are one of the chosen ones. Because in socialism resources are allocated through the good old power networks. Relations, bureaucracy and so on. Who you know becomes more important than what you know, who you do more important than what you do. It's a brave new world and I hope your dossier is perfect.
But don't worry: you'll easily buy a dose on the black market.
Let someone pay 20,000x the price of a good or service if they want to. This is a good thing, not a bad thing. This drives early returns on investment, leading to cheaper and widely distributed drugs in the future.
Let someone pay 20,000x the price of a good or service if they want to. This is a good thing, not a bad thing. This drives early returns on investment, leading to cheaper and widely distributed drugs in the future.
The other option is paying with tax-money...
btw, another view: why fix it to 20,000x? why not auction?
edit: I don't mean it will happen in the way the article describes, rather it will happen because the ultra rich tend to be friends with powerful people who have access to these types of things.
It’s not even clear to me that this is such a terrible way to allocate this scarce resources - if the NBA wants to spend a billion dollars on some of the first doses so they can go to work (and subsidize 50m other doses in the process) that doesn’t seem so wrong? For every 100 doses auction off 1 to pay for the other 99 (maybe even more!).
American's love celebrities, so if celebrities pay for access, the common American will want what is temporarily denied from them.
There is a historical precedent, Antoine Parmentier tricked the French people into adopting the potato in 1786, by placing armed guards around potato fields: https://www.damninteresting.com/cry-havoc-and-let-slip-the-s...
Let someone pay 20,000x the price of a good or service if they want to. This is a good thing, not a bad thing. This drives early returns on investment, leading to cheaper and widely distributed drugs in the future.
Money is not an issue here. Current resources is.
It could be a marketing campaign paid for by the "greedy rich" to improve the health of the system. American's love celebrities, so if celebrities pay for access, the common American will want what is temporarily denied from them. There is a historical precedent, Antoine Parmentier tricked the French people into adopting the potato in 1786, by placing armed guards around potato fields: https://www.damninteresting.com…
They should try a similar trick now. It seems many French people are reluctant to get vaccinated.
The article assumes the vaccine can only be sourced from the US Gov. This brings up some interesting questions about access direct from the manufacturers. When will the manufacturers backorder obligations be filled so they sell the vaccine on the open market? Do they have any contractual requirements to sell through government determined channels?
https://www.fda.gov/media/144636/download
"ModernaTX, Inc. will supply Moderna COVID‑19 Vaccine either directly or through authorized distributor(s), to emergency response stakeholders as directed by the U.S. government, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and/or other designee, for use consistent with the terms and conditions of this EUA;"
So they don't have permission to market it at all really.