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This week I wrote a long post about (1) why we weren't prepared to manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine and (2) how we've prepared for other pandemics (namely, influenza)
Short
https://acute.substack.com/p/dry-ice-and-millions-of-secret-chickens
Short
https://acute.substack.com/p/dry-ice-and-millions-of-secret-chickens
2. Moderately bad flu pandemics happen every few years.
BARDA, the agency in charge of biological threats, has shored up our domestic capacity for making emergency flu vaccines by maintaining an enormous flock of...secret chickens
BARDA, the agency in charge of biological threats, has shored up our domestic capacity for making emergency flu vaccines by maintaining an enormous flock of...secret chickens
3. The flu virus used to manufacture killed-virus vaccines (the majority of our flu vaccines) grows best in chicken eggs.
So the US federal government, every year, pays for millions of extra chicken eggs just in case there's a flu pandemic.
So the US federal government, every year, pays for millions of extra chicken eggs just in case there's a flu pandemic.
4. But we WEREN'T prepared for a coronavirus pandemic (for a few reasons that I go into in the newsletter) https://acute.substack.com/p/dry-ice-and-millions-of-secret-chickens
5. So markets for commodities used to ship and distribute the vaccine--things like dry ice--will almost certainly have periodic shortages over the next ~year as we roll out the vaccine
6. The markets are too calcified for flexible production on the scale we need.
Of course, the federal government can prevent this in the future by maintaining markets like it does with the chickens.
(& since we're talking about farm animals: a pic of my childhood goats)
Of course, the federal government can prevent this in the future by maintaining markets like it does with the chickens.
(& since we're talking about farm animals: a pic of my childhood goats)
