Fifth Avenue Forum

I think it was nocera who noted the other day the bottleneck is pretty much 100% overseas distribution. India only has something like 2% of their population vaccinated, for example, and that's very much a supply issue.

Now that Pfizer and Moderna have figured out how to set up production lines for their emergency authorized mRNA vaccines, their manufacturing design plans could be replicated to more quickly to ramp up manufacturing capacity in much less time, with much less trial and error.

Unfortunately, no other manufacturers possess the critical proprietary information needed to make these vaccines, including the exact composition and the technical details of their production lines. Without this knowledge and the licenses to the intellectual property (IP) required to act on it, production is currently limited to Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, and their partners. Similar IP restrictions will pose a barrier to accelerating worldwide production of the Novavax, Astrazeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, if they are authorized for emergency use. Notably, French pharmaceutical company Sanofi has recognized the need for assistance in getting shots into arms and has agreed to fill and pack millions of vaccine doses from Pfizer. But Sanofi and other companies in the industry could do much more if they were given access to the information needed to produce the life-saving vaccines from start to finish.

In a situation like this, it's entirely reasonable -- and legal -- for the US government to step in and help alleviate some of these IP bottlenecks. There's historical precedent for this. During World War II, the US was cut off from the natural rubber supply from Southeast Asia. To meet the demand for this material, which was critical to the war effort, the US government got a group of companies and academic researchers to share the findings from more than 200 patents in the effort to create synthetic rubber. During World War I, the US government basically forced the two companies that controlled key patents to aircraft technology to pool their IP in order to aid in the wartime scale-up of plane production.

The Defense Production Act (DPA) gives the government the right to request detailed information from both the vaccine manufacturers and their suppliers about their product compositions, manufacturing methods and supply chains. Zain Rizvi and Peter Maybarduk of Public Citizen have observed that the US government has the right under 28 U.S.C. section 1498 to use methods and technical information covered by any US patents for federal vaccine production efforts, as well as the right under DPA section 4555 to disclose publicly any confidential technical specifications obtained from manufacturers deemed essential in the interest of defending the nation.

We had numerous people move out of the area during the pandemic while keeping their jobs due to the ease, availability, and success of remote work. I refuse to be punished because I live 30 minutes away instead of 90.

Not to kick DD when he is down, but our company is slowly churning through the paperwork to allow workers to live on a pile of other states. We were originally just set up for NC, SC and GA, but apparently they’ve added additional ones and are looking to get all 50 done. I have no idea what that actually means. I’m assuming tax things. So it doesn’t seem like we are ever going back

Once this pandemic “ends” I’m going on a year long vacation and comeback looking like Castaway. You guys are on your own

Pfizer is applying for full approval of their vaccine. Hopefully it's soon so the excuse not to get it because it's an experimental vaccine will go away.

I’m guessing that doesn’t affect that vaccine’s “emergency use” categorization? ie employers still won’t be able to require it

I’m guessing that doesn’t affect that vaccine’s “emergency use” categorization? ie employers still won’t be able to require it