There's a huge difference between prioritizing his own citizens and depriving the rest of the world of something they need. Trump is and has always been transactional. There's always something in it for him. He offers a bundle of cash for the exclusive use of the vaccine, and once it's available, the next step is to sell it to other countries at inflated prices.
There is no reason why the vaccine can't be developed and tested here, initially produced and used here, all without allowing the rest of the world to know how to produce the vaccine. Is the flu vaccine "owned" by a specific country? Given the formula, they can produce their own vaccine for their own citizens without affecting ours at all. This is a pandemic, as a German official is quoted in the article says, capitalism only goes so far.
And before anyone starts talking about patents for drugs - this is a special case, a worldwide pandemic. it's bad enough that drug companies gouge for the drugs they currently produce. Do you think $1000/mo for insulin is bad? The chemo drug I have to take is $17,000/mo. That's for 21 pills. And only 80% of that is covered by insurance. That's all because the only company that makes it is Celgene, which owns the patent.
So stop telling me he's prioritizing American citizens. He sees a big potential payoff if this vaccine works.
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