The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit organization focusing on American health issues and the US role in global health issues. They have a vaccine spotter with information on how people can get vaccinated in the different US states. The US government is doing a remarkable job in national vaccine distribution and I sense the market will soon be flooded. It even looks like non-residents and tourists can get vaccinated in many states. STAT reports on the progress of developing the “tamiflu” for the coronavirus. Many researchers and companies are working on it but it still remains a dream. France and UK are giving opposite advice regarding young people and the AstraZeneca vaccine. France is recommending a second dose with a different vaccine. The UK is recommending the second dose be the same AstraZeneca vaccine. Pfizer and BioNTech are requesting the US Federal Drug Agency to approve their vaccines for use in people ages 12 to 15 years old.
Bloomberg reports wealthy nations are getting vaccinated 25x faster than low income nations. This is understandable because governments are responsible for their own citizens. Uzbekistan is one of the low income nations and as of mid-April, only has 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca. Hopefully companies can continue to up production and distribute around the world. One of the concerns is the rise of dangerous variants when COVID is burning through unvaccinated countries. The world’s biggest vaccine producer in India, Serum Institute is very stressed, trying to keep up with the recent sharp spike in cases in India and has stopped exporting vaccines. This is bad news for the COVAX program. The WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan in the podcast, G-Zero World with Ian Bremmer argues that vaccination nationalism will only prolong the pandemic.
TIS Director's Blog 
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