COVID Research; Competition?!?

The strangeness of thinking in terms of competition when faced with threats to all of humanity.

COVID.

Nature’s very own latest terrorist, effectively terrorising the whole of humanity for the foreseeable future.

Even for young people, though the virus might not feel much of a threat right now, how about in ten years time? Or even twenty, thirty, or forty?

We see stories from various news sources, talking about research towards a vaccine in terms of “Competition”.

China, UK, US, Russia, and Cuba, are all working to create an effective vaccine.

We even hear various accusations of “Spying” on one-another’s “Secrets” in the research.

Doesn’t this seem a little strange, that a fix to this worldwide disaster is being addressed by various geographically defined governments as seemingly separate efforts, in the interests of profit?

It doesn’t take much to work out that a real fix will only be found with worldwide collaboration. Real collaboration, where all research data is made public, for all clever people in the world who might be inclined to contribute.

But… It needs only one party in a bunch of collaborators to declare an intention to claim profit from the proceeds, for all of the others to be forced also into competition mode.