, Columnist
The Covid-19 Vaccine Fight Is Getting Ugly
The spat between France and drugmaker Sanofi shows when taxpayer money meets Big Pharma, the spoils aren’t always equally divided.
Macron is rolling up his sleeves.
Photographer: Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images
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An effective Covid-19 vaccine, if it ever arrives, should be treated as a public good for the whole of society. Every continent has been struck by the virus bar Antarctica.
But the combination of national self-interest and pressure for the pharmaceutical industry to turn a profit is already triggering a geopolitical bust up over who actually gets access to the vaccine first. It’s a reminder that the spoils of drug research aren’t equally divided. The system is ripe for a rethink.