How Big Pharma is Extending the Pandemic

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A video about COVID-19 vaccines, variants and Big Pharma profiteering.
Chapters
0:00 Why Isn't the Pandemic Over Yet?
12:55 1. Why Vaccines Aren't Enough
20:10 2. How (Not) To Vaccinate the World
35:14 Curiosity Stream & Nebula
37:13 3. How Rich Countries Stole the World's Vaccines
54:57 4. How Patents Enable Big Pharma Profiteering
01:09:23 5. The Fight for a People's Vaccine
01:16:40 6. Life After COVID?
Bibliography
You can find an annotated bibliography for this video on my website, here: tomnicholas.com/2022/03/how-b...
Some Copy about the Video for the KZbin Algorithm
It’s now been more than two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and over one year since the announcement of the Pfizer vaccine (the first COVID-19 vaccine, developed in collaboration with the German company BioNTech). Given all that we know about the disease, how to treat it and how to prevent it, you’d have thought we’d be much closer to defeating it, right?
But… no. COVID-19 variants have continued to emerge (most recently the Omicron variant) and, across the world, we continue to see periodic surges in infections. Why?
There are several reasons. But, chief among them has been the attempts of large pharmaceutical companies (such as Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca) who own the rights to COVID vaccines to make the most of the pandemic by making as much money from it as possible.
In today’s video, we’ll be looking at how “Big Pharma” (along with its allies in the governments of wealthy countries) has been withholding vaccines from “developing” countries, leading to what the head of the World Health Organization has called a state of “vaccine apartheid”.
And, we’ll consider how, in leaving large portions of the world’s population unvaccinated, this is allowing new variants to emerge and thus extending the pandemic.
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If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing.
Thanks for watching!
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Website: www.tomnicholas.com
Select footage courtesy of Getty
#covid #vaccines #tomnicholas

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Support me to make more videos like this by checking out my Patreon at patreon.com/tomnicholas Patreon supporters receive: - Early access to videos - Copies of scripts with footnotes and references - Access to exclusive commentary tracks to accompany each release - The ability to take part in Patreon exclusive Q&As - Weekly updates on what I'm working on next All this alongside helping me to continue to improve the quality of my videos through helping to cover the costs of research materials, set, costume, stock footage, music synchronisation, filming kits, editing software and more. If you like what I do, I'd be super grateful if you'd consider checking out the Patreon page at the link above. Thanks as ever! Tom

[@matthewatwood207]

How is not reducing the viral load at all and a quarter year efficacy passing with "flying colors"? It's reducing the deaths for the vaxxed temporarily, but without mask mandates, they are free to spread it to people who--like me--are immunosuppressed, and continue to see symptoms and brain damage regardless of vaccination.

[@dradenlol8667]

Did you just do a bit of Dependency Theory? That’s awesome😎

[@user-zn4pw5nk2v]

I wanted you to see this: Of course bill gates wants protection of intellectual property, why let anyone else steal what he stole from his colleague (the dos prototype (or was it windows < 3.11)) people usually are scared of shitty behaviour others may have, because they have it themselves.

[@travcollier]

You skipped over the really major challenge of conducting the clinical trials and gaining approvals. In addition to the just genuine difficulty and cost of those, there are regulatory capture issues as well. Anyways, those trials were the main reason that BioNTech partnered with Pfizer and Oxford with AstraZeneca. Those big companies do have manufacturing capability as well, but a ton is still outsourced. You also don't mention the business/corporate incentives behind India's eagerness to suspend the WTO intellectual property rules for pharmaceuticals. India has a massive pharma manufacturing industry. The Global South is, generally speaking, even more corrupt and controlled by greed than richer countries. PS: Speaking of AstraZeneca... It seems like Oxford would have partnered with Merck if not for Boris insisting on making it a "UK vaccine" -_-

[@borisbadinoff1291]

@@travcollier Good point. Tom also skipped the part about oversupply of vaccine doses, which was already forecasted by May 2021, almost a year before he started researching for his video. I tried to warn him as he was producing it, but he was already committed to a pharma-bashing narrative plus the mandatory critique of patents. Contrary to his argument, already in November 2021, developing countries started asking companies to suspend supply, as they were struggling to get their population vaccinated and stock-full storage facilities. The same who were campaigning to wave patents - alleging scarcity - preferred to ignore the actual bottleneck which was the challenge of getting people vaccinated in countries with weak and already stretched healthcare infrastructure, and broad vaccine hesitancy, ie, people refusing to be vaccinated, which had already been well researched and reported by the WHO. This reality - too many doses, not enough takers - was willfully ignored by campaigners and outlets like the NYT or Guardian, as it conflicted with the anti-IP agenda and accepted narrative about the Global South. Rather than producing new insights, Tom just recycled this analytical framework - and rather late to be frank. Tom also skipped over the various alternatives available to all countries very early in the pandemic: No mention about the vaccines produced in China, Russia, and Cuba. Many countries bought vaccines from China and Russia and started immunization campaigns at the same time as US or EU countries. Cuba produced its own vaccine and immunized the whole population very rapidly. Finally, Tom skipped over the issue of available production capacity globally. Before COVID, it was about 5 billion doses per year all vaccines included. For COVID, we started from zero dose and reached about 12 billion production capacity per year by early 2022, ie, not much more than 16 months after UK, US, and EU approvals. Any company on the planet with expertise and production capacity was already working for Pfizer, AZ, and the other companies developing second wave vaccines. Where would have additional capacity come from? Waiving IP rights was a moot and useless point. Tom had these facts in hand, but chose to ignore them, as they conflicted with his click-bait title bordering on conspiracy theory, ie, that "Big Pharma" (in fact two companies) had some devious plan to extend the pandemic by allowing variants to emerge from non-vaccinated countries which were deprived from vaccine doses because of patent rights. Very disappointing.

[@MedlifeCrisis]

Haha I had half finished a script with a working title of ‘Making Stacks During a Pandemic’ which was basically this video except far lower production values, less well researched, and less well written! Wonderful stuff Tom. As someone who spends his time trying to highlight shortcomings within the medical and pharmaceutical industries, an unusual phenomenon I’ve noticed is people who I’d previously put in that same category have been bizarrely uncritical of pharma during the pandemic, undoubtedly out of fears of making people sceptical of the vaccine. There are not only the economic factors you so clearly explain but some disappointing scientific missteps too, from the companies, and from doctors

[@huimoin]

You are still going to upload that video, right? I need my Medlife dosage doc!

[@Tom_Nicholas]

This means we're even for the time that I got really enthused about making a video about academic publishing and then found out you'd already made a video which absolutely smashed it, haha.

[@balarab1]

make the video, this one is too long for most people.

[@ElectricityTaster]

Like Pfizer cared to pay the media so they would lambast the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for the thrombocytopenia cases. Then we heard but a whisper about the peri/myocarditis of the Pfizer vaccine. The reason? Oxford-AstraZeneca decided early on that they would not profit from the vaccine while the pandemic lasts and the cost per dose was about an order of magnitude lower. Scientists, doctors, etc. did not speak up because they were afraid of losing their careers for no real effect. You can't take on a pharmaceutical who has bought out media and is cooperating with governments around the world. It's just too big to question.

[@GertvandenBerg]

We'll watch it anyway 😉 The current attempts to recreate he vaccines can do with some coverage...

[@RybatQ]

As a Nigerian watching this video and as someone who just got his first dose quite recently due to lack of availability, this situation is all too real and painful. edit: Gotten my second those for those wondering. Thank you Tom for shedding more light on this.🥺

[@EricHamm]

Good luck bro. I hope the vaccine support comes eventually as it should of from the beginning.

[@MaximumCrash]

Apologies from Germany, our government is very much responsible for this.

[@Bilangumus]

Dude do not get vaccinated. All vaccinated countries are having new waves.

[@qrsx66]

I had no injection and did no test in France despite the tyranny that has been deployed to violate everyone's body integrity here (wich is another name for rape).

[@MaximumCrash]

@@qrsx66 it isn't

[@Sgublaka94]

”What doesn’t kill you mutates and tries again.”

[@GuerillaBunny]

Actually, not mecessarily. If it kills the host too effectively, there's a risk of extinction. At such a point, less lethal strains are more likely to propagate. There are other variables of course, but just saying that mutating for lethalty isn't always beneficial for a microbe.

[@josetrindade3550]

@@GuerillaBunny and then, there is Rabies. 100% death rate if left untreated. Viral infection will always end with the virus being wiped out by the immune system. As long as it got a chance to spread, who cares if it takes the host with it or not?

[@GuerillaBunny]

​@@josetrindade3550 That's my point. If it kills the host too effectively, it won't get the chance to spread. And with the existence of modern medicine, a virus too lethal can become the target of an active effort to wipe it out.

[@josetrindade3550]

@@GuerillaBunny *can* is the right word, no? Because the plan everywhere except in a handful of countries has been to "live with the virus", ie, die from it. You're reading what you want from my words. Covid spreads during its asymptomatic case, the fate of the host is irrelevant. By the time you're sick enought to be rushed to the hospital, the virus is already done with you.

[@xponen]

@@r-ex2945 some message is harmful in the wrong context and should be criticised for sake of the humanity. There's facts that is used to promote certain dangerous ideology should be criticised to remove fuel from such ideology.

[@samuelrosander1048]

29:00 or so, vaccine hesitancy being low in low-income regions probably has a lot to do with the fact that people in those regions have living knowledge of the devastating effects of the diseases that are largely nonexistent in wealthier regions. It's much harder to convince them that vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases, or that they're ineffective, because they know better from painful, even deadly experience.

[@trinidad17]

And maybe that's the reason why sometimes populations those places are used as human guinea pigs, both scenarios which doesn't mean that the vaccines aren't actually worth taking at all for most of the population given the very low mortality rate and risk it poses to general population under 50.

[@samuelrosander1048]

@@trinidad17 That only makes sense to someone who is brainwashed by anti-vax garbage, which takes a few factoids and twists them to provide a narrative disconnected from reality. The history of anti-vaccination movements has existed since vaccines, and it has NEVER IN ITS ENTIRE HISTORY proved to be valid. Low mortality rates are a thing BECAUSE of vaccines, not in spite of them. Governments (and businesses) have used humans as test subjects without their knowledge, and that's deplorable and should be prosecuted, but that's an issue of guilt, NOT of effectiveness and value to society. Your drivel suggesting that vaccines aren't "worth taking at all for most of the population given the very low mortality rate and risk it poses to the general population under 50" has no scientific OR historical backing. Honestly, people like you are a bigger threat to the health and safety of every population than any vaccine in existence, because you have the potential to convince real people that life-saving vaccines, or even just vaccines that prevent OTHER PEOPLE THAN THE PERSON BEING VACCINATED FROM DYING OR GETTING REALLY SICK, are "not worth taking and a real risk." If you've got a problem with how vaccines are "sometimes" developed, then make THAT your argument, because THAT argument has merit, whereas the rest has absolutely none. Unless, of course, you're talking about snake-oil peddlers claiming to have cures for anything for a price, because that's what we call "taking advantage of desperate people to make a buck," and is up there with your "not worth it and dangerous" drivel. You, just like snake-oil salesmen, bear responsibility for the suffering and death caused by perpetuating your narrative, but at least they know that they're doing it for profit, whereas you actually believe it. I'm not going to respond further. It's not worth trying to reason with the unreasonable.

[@ifeeltiredsleepy]

@@trinidad17 I think in recent history it's quite rare for lower income countries to be used as testing grounds for treatments, apart for endemic diseases that don't exist in high income countries. Most of these points circulate around conspiracy theories about Hilary Kapowski's Polio trials in Congo and Rwanda, but even in those cases first rounds of safety testing of his vaccine was done in the USA, the African trials were intended to give better results because Polio was more endemic in Africa so it would be easier to see how effective the vaccine was against polio. Sabin tested his polio vaccine in the Soviet Union for the same reason in the 50s, and Salk did trials in Mexico. Though in all of these cases the trials in endemic locations were done after safety testing and use on Americans. Edit: Like in reality American pharmaceutical agencies spend hundreds of millions on designer drugs targeting small populations in the West, while university researchers on shoestring budgets are trying to find solutions to tropical diseases that kill thousands annually in lower income countries. There is largely a disincentive to testing overseas since the FDA has strict testing guidelines and monitoring requirements that would make those kinds of trials useless to the pharmaceutical company.

[@qrsx66]

@@trinidad17 Both case is because they blindly trust a doctor or any person that they see as more educated. "The doctor said so..."

[@iamjustkiwi]

@@qrsx66 it's really reductive if you to assume that folks are wandering in blindly. Information is very widely available, especially in first world countries, so your attitude of people blindly trusting doctors is pretty damn rude and shows a clear bias. Other people are capable of complex thought as well, not just you. Grow up and maybe pull your head out of your butt.

[@MF-fd2ug]

Biontech being located in a street called "An der Goldgrube" (literally translates to at the Goldmine) is just too much.

[@originaldarkwater]

I saw that and thought "Wow, someone there doesn't even care and is giving all us suckers a gigantic middle finger to our face"

[@travcollier]

A colleague of mine (biologist) lives in Mainz near BioNTech and knows a fair few people working there. The company was started by a couple of university researchers who wanted to develop the stuff they had been working on into actual stuff which might help people. Universities are great for research, but suck at development, so starting up a company to do that is quite common. According to what I've heard, the company still pretty much has that ethos despite the recent massive growth. BioNTech is not Pfizer.

[@virtualtools_3021]

@@travcollier my ass

[@travcollier]

@@virtualtools_3021 That's a great logical argument backed by evidence you got there -_-

[@senju31]

@@travcollier I think you may be underestimating the influence of profit.

[@cjkenney]

Damn dude, you are doing some fine journalism. Your video on veritasium impressed me and made me aware of bias in my favorite youtubers. This one has really done well to really paint a clear picture of how the pandemic was handled.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

That’s very kind, I’m really glad you found it informative!

[@JohnSmith-ft4gc]

​@@Tom_Nicholas Agree, but you didn't need to put a lab coat on.

[@keisaboru1155]

basics of journalism . read about it .

[@dylan32023]

I'm guessing veritasium or Johnny Harris won't be joining nebula anytime soon

[@parkerdavis7859]

@@blackmanlistening7909 seek medical help

[@mikedrop4421]

Oh good, with WWIII looming I almost forgot how messed up the pandemic situation is.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Yeah, sorry for bringing attention back to the previous bad thing...

[@paulikoller3942]

@@Tom_Nicholas Opposite to that, I would like to thank you sincerely for this very informative video, as I think of one the biggest problems in mainstream media in general is that as soon as some other conflict starts to rise, shady and downright unethical businesses or practices are quick to be swept under the rug. Just as other conflicts are still ongoing in Israel, Syria, China or other parts of the world, people shouldn't always just accept an outcome of a drastic situation, if it is to some extent agreeable or doesn't directly influence their lives. So, thank you🙏

[@vulcanhobo2147]

all while the big looming issue of climate change is increasing in the background lol.

[@EthanMitch]

@@vulcanhobo2147 well the eternal joke is that they're all tied up together. Global warming has an effect on resources, land use, and natural disasters. The refugees of climate change put a strain on those same resources and affects land use which leads to conflict within our current systems. Further, refugee catastrophes lead to movement of people across the globe, people who often aren't able to be vaccinated appropriately due to how global politics affected vaccine rates which leads to spread of virus and its mutations. The real disaster is the friends we made along the way.

[@theirreverentreader6970]

This comment thread hurt my feelings.

[@maledetto1221]

If you want to feel even worse look for the history of insulin's patents and how they are protected...

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Yes, am I right in saying that they essentially “invent” a slightly different version of insulin every so often to keep it protected by patent?

[@maledetto1221]

@@Tom_Nicholas Yep, basically every iteration resets the time required to make the patent open. This also means they invest in patenting new variant or production methods before other companies could use them(or letting it expire)

[@persoro4015]

@@maledetto1221 The main problem with insluin isn't nessecarily the patents(a lot of them have expired and organizations like OpenInsulin are attempting to produce, and their main issues aren't IP ones), but that 3 companies control 90 percent of the market, which means they are the most entrenched in the field, drug patents aren't really allowed in the "variation" way, without creating themselves a new seperate entity, they don't apply to the previous one

[@kilibubblecata6266]

@@persoro4015 ...did even watch the video

[@helengrives1546]

Ok the opinion is that vaccination is the holy grail. But who gets more often sick, the vaccinated group or the unvaccinated group? Which immune system wins the strength test? I still feel the discussion is not honest. We can only know over 30 years. The news contradicts itself. Poorer countries were less affected, unless something cultural explains the differences. People had up to 5 shots? I don't call that effective. Should we vaccinate like we use antibiotics in farm animals? No thank you.

[@zenodorous]

One of the reasons South Africa has also been so quick to identify new variants is because of all the labs and infrastructure we already had for HIV and Tuberculosis.

[@mongoose9315]

Exactly. Not because we’re unvaccinated. The variants were identified in fully vaccinated Europeans.

[@pong9000]

By a certain logic presence of a South African lab suggests the variant may have been developed in the lab, and leaked from there. This is the logic of Wuhan lab leak conspiracy theory.

[@NoFuqinIdea]

I genuinely wouldn't have a problem at all with someone just stealing the "recipe" of one of the three better vaccines, starting their own business with it in a low income country (Even if this is for selfish reasons). It's so frustrating to see that even during such depressing times humanity can't work together, not even for once.

[@marciamakesmusic]

Humanity is all for working together. That's why society exists in the first plane. The problem is the existing power structures embolden the greedy and reward them with positions of influence

[@captainhaddock6435]

@@marciamakesmusic great way to put it

[@TheScourge007]

The tough part is you'd need to steal more than just the patents. There's a lot of trade secrets and manufacturing methods that need to be shared especially for the newest mRNA vaccines. There are countries who have the infrastructure needed (India, Brazil, Cuba, and maybe South Africa too) but even there the ideal state is a full tech share with some support starting up the factories from North American or EU experts. This would also likely help some of the problems of vaccine hesitancy in the developing world that does exist. There are cases of vaccine programs being hijacked for western imperialist purposes. A notable example being the polio vaccine campaign in Pakistan being used to help identify Osama Bin Laden; one result being that when that came out there was a wave of distrust towards vaccination campaigns. If vaccines are being made in the global south then that becomes clearer as being independent of imperialist hegemony for a lot of folks.

[@sourgreendolly7685]

@@marciamakesmusic *was. That’s not the norm any more, that’s why it’s so sad

[@jobansand]

Do something about it instead of moping and complaining.

[@asutin]

As awful as covid is, we got thrown a softball and still whiffed. Imagine if the next pandemic has a >10% death rate. We'll really get a chance to test the limits of corporate greed then.

[@notaninquisitor7274]

I doubt there is any limit to greed. Just look at the history of needless death and suffering caused in colonized areas by businesses. I bet the total deaths will dwarf that of all the wars combined.

[@EroticInferno]

100% We fucked this up so badly and it wasn’t even _that bad_ of a virus…

[@OsvaldoBayerista]

Imagine Ebola with the spread capacity of Covid, damn.

[@jo0rd73]

I’ve been saying this since the start. We are truly doomed if that ever happens.

[@MatanteDodo]

@@OsvaldoBayerista Covid can damage blood vessels' endothelium, which is why it gives clots to some people. The process is not entirely unlike ebola's, but it's slower so the body usually can replenish its platelets and clotting factors and doesn't lead to massive hemorraging. Usually. Some people do get a hemorragic form. If a variant comes up that targets the endothelium a little more aggressively, we might very well see one that's basically "ebola but airborne". The topic is hard to google because of the massive amount of results in everything covid related, but there are a few research papers about that possibility out there.

[@Rahshu]

Well done! I'm surprised, however, that you didn't mention Cuba even once. It's the only Latin American country to have developed its own vaccines (yes, it's in the plural) largely with the knowledge of what global north countries are like. It didn't want to be beholden to them for help. It's vaccinated its population effectively and has been working with other heavily sanctioned countries in the world. It's developed vaccines that don't require deep refrigeration, and it's been willing to share with other places. US sanctions on the country have made the process hard, and it's also contributed to shortages of things like needles, yet look what they've done. They stand as a counterpoint to the hegemony and rigid ideology of the wealthy nations with regard to healthcare on nearly every level. Vietnam has also been developing its own vaccines for similar reasons. It's been covered in the news for some time now, so I'm surprised you didn't bring it up.

[@XxCorvette1xX]

I find it telling that those Cuban vaccines are banned/not approved in any of the countries where Pfizer has a huge stake, like Canada

[@Chirashin]

Brazil developed a vaccine in a partnership with China called CORONAVAC, that has been shown to have higher efficacy/resistance to the variants. Sadly it was basically boycotted by the competition. This stuff happens all the time...the lack of funding for research and science by the newer government only made it worse...

[@mabi2727]

​@@Chirashin that's actually not true. China developed the vaccine and, initially, only the government of São Paulo (state) bought it directly from them, followed by other state governments. After a lot of hemming and hamming, the federal government eventually did too (there's a meme here with the pfizer vaccine too, this is a long story). We have our own vaccine that has been in development but it's slow going, as things have a tendency to be here. (Specially with our current federal government being adamantly anti-vaccine...)

[@leighfoulkes7297]

The US has just become pure evil and only about max profits anymore.

[@BeautifulEarthJa]

Indeed. Cuba is the 'threat of a good example' that the global north does not want and this is just another example of what can be done when humans are working to help other humans and not (just) to make stacks.

[@czechmeoutbabe1997]

This is legitimately one of the most depressing videos I've ever watched. Someone methodically, understandably describing the intricacies of the gears that grind the human life out of literally millions of strangers over 80 mins was tough. Excellent work as always, Tom.

[@aaronh1372]

Keep digging..

[@tim290280]

Halfway through I turned to my wife in astonishment to say that what I thought had been bad about the pandemic was just scratching the surface. I mean, I knew about the hoarding and lack of access to the vaccines, but OMG, that was barely the start. Amazing effort, Tom!!

[@walkinaxyl]

Those who have been spared the experimental gene therapy are blessed by God himself. Those who took it willingly are afraid of an inflated media hype of a minor disease unless untreated early. What happens when you let pneumonia go untreated? Covid numbers were so inflated fear ran the pathetic world. Shame on all of you n

[@DJPoundPuppy]

When did I subscribe to you? Either way, I made a good choice.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thanks!

[@carpo719]

I think it was on Wednesday the 26th of May

[@luodeligesi7238]

It was on February 30th

[@declaniii6324]

@@carpo719 I don’t know if you planned this out but May 26th, 2021 was a Wednesday

[@butwithcats265]

I cannot believe I finally have some grasp of the utility, design, and context of the TRIPS waiver. This is the first piece of media I have encountered that has attempted to confer some meaningful understanding of this term that's been blithely buzzworded about it regular media for over a year.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Ahh, thank you, this is pretty much the exact reason I wanted to make this video!

[@andrewlipnick8131]

15:40 while I agree that Edison deserves credit for that, I think the claim that we'd be eating by candlelight without him is basically a great man theory approach to history that simply isn't true. If Edison hadn't done that someone else would've, maybe it would've been years later, but it still would've been implemented eventually.

[@michaelpiper4067]

while you're right, let's give him some license for dramatic effect

[@NahuelPavano]

It is true that edison is responsible for giving lightbulbs a shorter lifespan? if that is true, fuck edison lol

[@RyanTosh]

@@NahuelPavano Not at all. IIRC a big part of his research was finding the material for the filament that would last the longest. The only schemes I'm aware of for intentionally reducing lightbulb lifespans was by GE, Phillips, and the other big brands in the mid 20th century

[@Violet-qf8dr]

I read remember going to see one of Edison's labs in Florida as a child. The lightbulb he made was still burning.

[@ifeeltiredsleepy]

@@Violet-qf8dr Any lightbulb can last forever if it's barely producing light and nothing breaks the vacuum, the filaments burn because we want bright light out of them. The amount of light useful from a lightbulb requires a heat where tungsten will evaporate and eventually burn out. The oldest currently surviving working lightbulb is from 1901 and was made in France, but it just emits a dim light. Edit: The lifespan of incandescent lightbulbs is limited by the production of heat that brighter light requires, if you want bright light you need incandescent lightbulbs that burn out. Very bright lights, like those used in flash photography only last a couple hours for the same reason.

[@Rhaifha]

I've found this pandemic to be very enlightening on how it makes governments go "my country first" if they have the financial and political power to do so and it *sucks*. Not to mention how it showed the flaws in our international supply chains, and how our very efficient (and thus cheap) supply chains are very vulnerable to any interruption. Even on essential products like.. Idk.. PPE.. Ventilators.. etc.

[@carynmartin6053]

If the "my country first " is real, why have we in the US been giving all our military weapons and $$$ away to Ukraine?? And why do we have a shortage of baby formula?? And soon, gasoline, wheat products and cooking oils??

[@zacheryeckard3051]

And, in the US at least, baby formula.>>

[@stoferb876]

It not only revealed international flaws, it revealed internal flaws aswell.

[@Brummbaerchie]

Was initially put off by the length of this, but this is well explained and completely worth the time. Thank you!

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you, I'm really glad you found it interesting!

[@Thought.Strings]

Excuse me, 06:24 the name of the road Biontech is located in literally translates to "by the goldmine". That's hilarious.

[@phirion6341]

omg yes

[@cezarcatalin1406]

Which each passing day I become more and more convinced that we all live in some cheaply executed sadistic comedy show.

[@jakob642]

Maybe Patents should not give the owner the right to be the only one selling his invention and instead force any company selling his invention to pay the inventor a few % of their turnover for a few years/decades.

[@Kaepsele337]

That sounds reasonable and addresses the "incentive" question in loosening patent law, while also avoiding monopolies.

[@nocturnal6876]

IF THE GOVERNMENT PAID YOU TO DO IT, IT SHOULD BE AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE. These private companies are risk averse and don't invest in r&d, always sucking on public funds.

[@notaninquisitor7274]

@@nocturnal6876 the problem with neo-liberals is that the only metric they measure for a person's word is money. The more money the wiser your words, and only fools have less money than them.

[@juliekring7574]

Isn't this just technology licensing?

[@zacheryeckard3051]

@@juliekring7574 Yes, but nonoptional.

[@MissPlaced84]

Thank you for this. I've been trying to get many of these points across to several people claiming profiting from vaccines is good, actually. And I couldn't effectively explain just how messed up it actually is. Very well done.

[@MusikCassette]

It is not the profiting itself that is the problem. It is the system set up to ensure profits, that does harm

[@chinafuture6484]

You can't fix stupid.

[@NathanCroucher]

Wait what, where in this video did you get the impression profiting from vaccines is good 🤨

[@mandarinduck]

@@NathanCroucher They're saying they know people who think profiting from vaccines is good and the video gave them talking point to argue against those people.

[@JaseekaRawr]

Just bring up how Bill Gates was largely behind pushback against open source vaccines. They(right wingers or antïvãx ppl) hate that guy as much as we do. 😂😅 Rightfully so, btw. 😔

[@ValentijnEnJack]

"But this was NOT a philantropic act." You don't say. I'm very thankful for everything you do, I'm thankful for you spreading awareness about this. I'm just tired, man. We desperately need systemic improvement. But hey, the ones in power and with massive amounts of wealth always have the best in mind for the common people, right? P.S. Ballsy calling out our boy Bill Gates on a platform where he has incredible control.

[@MissPlaced84]

It's amazing how often "philanthropy" isn't actually a philanthropic act. P.S. While I don't blame him at all, Tom barely scratched the surface of how scummy Gates has behaved re: COVID vaccines. The researchers that created the AZ vaccine originally believed they were going to share the technology openly without cost. Once it looked promising in initial testing, Gates warned them against sharing their research openly citing concerns that it might be produced in countries with low quality control -- specifically India. He convinced them to sell the IP to AZ, using his foundation's money to benefit a company he owns personal stock in. AZ then produced the vaccine in India, but still sold it to India at a higher cost than the US.

[@carpo719]

Gates deserves to be called out a lot more often. I used to think he was a decent guy. I don't know why

[@MissPlaced84]

@@carpo719 because he was the quiet nerd with the $2 haircut and OG "Niceguy".

[@ValentijnEnJack]

@@MissPlaced84 EEExactly! And nice going, @CARPO719 ! Keep spreading awareness.

[@larkohiya]

Bill gates should always be called out.

[@GaasubaMeskhenet]

Give people the freedom to stay home without fear when sick. No more evictions from primary residences! The threat of eviction is a public health hazard!!

[@theguy9208]

pay the rent and you wont get evicted.. what you want is the right to use other peoples shit for free like a parasite...

[@noelgreer3966]

Excellent! I myself was hired under the COVAX initiative all the way back in 2020. I saw my job suddenly change from new and ambitious to underwhelming and inefficient. I never got the full story for why the project I had joined seemed to suddenly take such a sharp turn. Now I'm considering that the evolution in policy decisions that you go over in this video might explain the change in my work.

[@breakdownbyben]

this video reminded me how lucky some of us are to be born in a 1st world country. Rich countries are pretty much throwing away their vaccines - while other countries can't even get them.

[@notaninquisitor7274]

These people are abusing people in 1st world countries as well, but they try to keep it to a threshold just under what would instigate a riot.

[@EalesOnWheels]

I'm a massive fan of the longer content. Being able to take a deep dive in to a topic like this is fascinating. Plus raises awareness about this issue. Great work mate

[@mikethepigeonwhisperer]

Despite the high quality and content of this video, it's still only scratching the surface. I have friends who have spent a considerable amount of time scraping funding for research, only to then, after running out of funding seek out small pharmaceutical companies who insist on the rights to any useable outcome of the research, who then get bought out by much larger companies. They then either gouge the target market, obscure the claims to make a market or shelve the research in patent books either to sell at high cost or archive for future consideration. My own miniscule ventures into research of biofilm disruptors wasn't mine to use, despite self funding, it goes to the institution hosting me. I left for tech markets for different reasons, but looking back I'm kinda glad I did. Tech is foul as an industry, but it doesn't bankrupt you if you have a novel idea that needs expensive regulatory approval in a system with no effective or fair funding strategies. Sorry long rant, please consider following up on this, it's a dirty goldmine to do a whole series on.

[@magnuscritikaleak5045]

The tech medical plus games tech industry are both disgusting cancers

[@nicksmith902]

I loved this, we touched on TRIPS during my masters, although it was mostly conflicts between the USA and India and Thailand over HIV medications, but this is far easier to digest than most of the papers I had to read. Also, I like that you capture a core element of the billionaire mindset "if this is good for me, it must be good for everyone", that lack of perspective is why there are no good billionaires even if they're trying to be

[@hcxpl1]

I wish I could be as optmistic as you thinking they have no idea what they are doing but yeah, they live in a completely different reality where they are the saviours of the world for helping those poor people that can't lift themselves up by their bootstraps

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Super excited to announce that you can now watch my videos on Nebula! Grab a full year's membership of Nebula & Curiosity Stream for just $14.79 here: curiositystream.com/tomnicholas

[@AshutoshSingh-jz8gf]

UK a small population relative to India Has now 72000 cases i think the govt should complain about th effectivenes of vaccine Now India has only 5000 cases vaccine or natural immunity But i think our vaccine are more effective

[@jon_s]

You seem smart but probably not smart enough to notice that so-called "low income countries" were the least affected by your CoVID. As "advanced" people, continue to vax/ (chemicalize) yourselves and leave others alone

[@hoodygod110]

The whole pandemic has been monetized, we just ain't paying with cash

[@Ralph_Baric_PhD_C2019]

15 % are severly affected by covid. We learned a lot from 6 million deaths. We learnt a lot about non sterilising vaccines that do not generate mucosal immunity. While you are huffing and puffing about trying to vax all the low income countries;;; That DON"T NEED THEM You are falling into the pharma shill trap. 8 billion on the planet. 3 doses times 8 billion = 24 billion doses now take the knowledge we now know about exactly who needs a vaccine since it DOES NOT STOP INFECTION then only 15% of the world neede 3 doses.. =3.6 billion doses. Now if those doses had have been spaced correctly to start with, most people would only need two doses. Lets round it to 2.5 billion. So to sum up...... WOULD YOU RATHER SELL 24,000,000,000 DOSES OR 2,500,000,000 DOSES.. STOP SHILLING FOR PHARMA IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES THEY ALREADY HAVE IMMUNITY.

[@Ralph_Baric_PhD_C2019]

the only way you beat covid is by mass infection.

[@BreakingStubad]

Thanks for this! Being from the “Global South” it sometimes feels like we’re shouting into a void about these things

[@SineN0mine3]

As someone from the "global north" who also lives in the southern hemisphere, I'm sorry that us westerners in the first world are so afraid of saying "poor countries" and instead keep inventing these stupid euphemisms like "developing nations" or "global south" as if we don't all recognise that wealth is the primary difference we're discussing. The whole excersize seems like an attempt to wash out hands of any potential guilt we should feel for wealth disparity between our nations. This global north/south is just the latest in a long history of politically correct ways to differentiate rich and poor, and it's only because the rich don't like to admit that they're rich because then people might start to wonder why that is. I don't think most people are so simple that they actually think rich countries handing over big piles of money would do anything at all to solve the issues that cause the disparity, and I can't think of any other reason to use double speak in this manner. Also, it seems like "global north/south" is an American centric concept, since their wealth is mostly concentrated in the north. I think the southern states should be insulted to be used as a metaphor for being poor on the global scale. Anyway, I doubt it will change people love their politically correct terms I just wanted to complain.

[@Merione]

I'm by no means an expert in anything, but I feel like adding one more element to the difference between invention and innovation: context. While inventions are usually completely new, regardless of the context, innovations especially are heavily dependent on context and point of view. I would argue that even importing an already established idea or practice in a different context can be considered a form of "relative innovation". Using the same lightbulb example as you, I mean that I would consider a form of "innovation" also the act of bringing the lightbulb and, by extension, electrical illumination to a very rural area of a developing country. Thoughts?

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Yeah, I think that’s a really good point. Innovation might not always involve a novel invention at all.

[@heartache5742]

can't wait for this specific distinction to appear in university courses in five years

[@KlausJLinke]

No matter whether it's "invention" or "innovation", the people doing the inventing or innovating are rarely the people claiming the patents and making the money off it.

[@jaredmaksudian7523]

Hi Tom, pharmacy student here and wanted to let you know this video was just amazing. I’m very impressed with your knowledge over this topic and insane amount of research I am sure went into this video. You really opened my eyes to where the real issues lie with the COVID vaccine. Keep up the great work and keep educating the public. This is something I think every person in healthcare should see. Thanks again!

[@MelMelodyWerner]

about 28 minutes into the video, I do want to point out something that like, nobody ever considers when it comes to vaccine hesitancy or (good-naturedly, but) wrongly pushing for vaccine mandates--for homeless people who are living on the streets due to no local shelters or having been banned from theirs, but who may be working, a mandate forces them to choose between having the symptoms of the shot on a park bench or losing their source of income. having had to face a similar choice when I was supposed to get my second vax shot, I think that people in such situations should either have their local shelters forced to house them or be given a free room in a nearby hotel/motel during the aftermaths of their shots (in the event where the local shelter is dangerous to stay at or if there isn't one in the vicinity). (edit to say that I am housed again, and personally much more stable.) then again, people don't tend to think of homeless folks ever, so I'm not surprised...

[@majaherold1325]

I really hate how discussions of vaccine mandates always leave the people out that have significantly higher hurdles to getting the vaccine (homeless people, severely depressed people etc)

[@TheRenaSystem]

You're one of the best people on the platform at what you do - phenomenally important and relevant journalistic video essay as always Tom! It's super fucked how you need to even point this stuff out in the first place but the truth is the truth whether we acknowledge it or not and we'll never be able to move past our problems if we can't acknowledge the root causes of these systemic issues to begin with, so thanks for all the work you do to help get people to see those deeper and darker (yet glaringly obvious) truths.

[@laxisusous]

I work at a biotech company in America. Part of my job is installing those -80 C freezers. There is a definite supply chain issue for these freezers. The wait time to get one is measured in months. These things cost tens of thousands of dollars. It should be noted that for shipping products at this temperature, the standard practice is just dry ice and plenty of insulation.

[@liamtahaney713]

New Tom Nicholas: Epic It's an hour and a half: Epicer

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Hope you find it interesting!

[@Zyphera]

How we think of capitalism: Everyone having a fair fight at the market. How it works in practice: Big companies leverage there size to rig the market. Why work hard when you can force start ups by buying polices that prohibits competition.

[@jeremygregorio7472]

No more subsidies unless they give us stock. For every dollar of taxpayer money they get the government gets stock and good stock too. Voting shares. Stocks for subsidies

[@-slt]

WTO can even decide what rules must countries pass and if wealthy countries (oligarchs of previous colonialists) don't like how a country act (no matter right or wrong) they just put sanctions on it and still they talk about the glorious freedom under global capitalism. You made it really clear Tom, "The cost is counted in human lives" 😖

[@notaninquisitor7274]

I wouldn't doubt that many in the wealthy countries consider hoarding the vaccine a genetic/ethnic savings account and the deaths in poor nations as the earned interest. The vaccine is worth more to them sitting unused in a warehouse somewhere than the knowledge that undesirables might be saved from suffering and death.

[@LukeAddison]

Great video as always. Thanks for all your research and clear, informative presentation. Yours are the only long KZbin videos I ever watch.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you Luke, that’s very kind!

[@Spiderkote]

Me, a russian: ah, yes, i should watch this, definitely something lighthearted to stop me from worrying for a little while.

[@daniellehayes8649]

I’m here a year later and the social media coverage of this issue did seem to turn the tide on this a bit in hind site by bringing it up. 👍 Hope we do better next time.

[@craigridley9618]

Good lord! Tom, this one’s a beast! Tremendous & thorough work. Thank you for your continued efforts man, i love your videos/work & appreciate your commitment to the content. 👏

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you Craig! I really appreciate you saying so!

[@rhiannonthea]

Your videos consistently knock it out of the park. Thanks for your work!

[@Tom_Nicholas]

That’s very kind-I do try!

[@TennesseeJed]

Tom, this is articulate and informative as always. Thank you!

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you, I’m really glad you thought so!

[@WesternCommie]

This is why the vaccine should have been open source.. Really, the pharmaceutical industry should be socialized..

[@Kaepsele337]

It's always interesting to learn new ways in which the IMF, the WTO and the World bank make sure that the global south stays poor. It's disgusting and none of our representatives in the western world are doing anything against it, no matter who I vote for.

[@johannageisel5390]

The people I vote for, when they end up in the European parliament, probably try doing something against that, but they are too few against the onslaught of capitalist assholes and conservative fuckers. Too few people are voting for those who might at least try changing the Status Quo for the better. :(

[@Kaepsele337]

​@@johannageisel5390 Don't get me wrong I also vote for die Linke, but I've never heard them talk about it as concretely as this video did for example. I think they don't focus on it because it would be against the immediate interests of the working class in Europe.

[@johannageisel5390]

@@Kaepsele337 It could be that we just don't hear about it because the media does not exactly fall over itself to report any good things DIE LINKE is trying. But yes, it could also be that they haven't taken any concrete action in this matter.

[@carynmartin6053]

Bc the dems and the repubs are the same at this point

[@vurpo7080]

This really demonstrates why there's no need to invent fake conspiracies to criticise big pharma and our societal structures, when there are already good enough real reasons to do it.

[@SineN0mine3]

A lot of us have been saying this all along, but the conspiracy theorists have their voices amplified in order to distract anyone from discussing the middle ground where the truth seems to lie. Moderate scepticism is much more harmful to the corporate mandate than full blown conspiracy theory. The conspiracies are easily dismissed and they've already figured how to market to these people separately. Providing realistic and logical concerns that they can't address was always the real threat to their plan and they knew it all along.

[@Sgublaka94]

As a person with needle phobia, the images in this video were… thrilling. Otherwise this is superb!

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Sorry about that! Perhaps a cw was in order. I’ll give more thought to that if I make anything involving needles again!

[@Sgublaka94]

@@Tom_Nicholas it’s alright, I think everytime there was time to look elsewhere before the needle pierced the skin. Keep up the brilliant work!

[@lewisbaitup6352]

Aye a tom video that's longer than ever is exactly what we needed

[@Tom_Nicholas]

That’s very kind. I hope I’ve earned the additional runtime!

[@lewisbaitup6352]

@@Tom_Nicholas you most definitly have

[@SomeRedDame]

Despite the fact I'm now in the midst of a full blown Covid scare, this really is the best medicine 🙃 I really hope this vid gets as "exploited" as possible in terms of distribution. 👏 absolutely phenomenal, Tom, thank you so much for laying it out as viscerally as it is eloquent.

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

Hope yr safe, Canary!

[@henrymourland8379]

I really appreciate the depth of your content.

[@broorb4104]

excellent list so far: -eye catching title -punchy dialogue -nice bibliography

[@tobiashagstrom4168]

We should switch to Tom's universal temperature scale, "a little cold", "quite cold", "very cold", "extremely cold", "PROPPER COLD".

[@consentclub614]

As someone who's living with Long Covid, I appreciate this video more than I can express. Thanks Tom!

[@turtlepie4363]

Loved it. I read a lot of papers on Covid and one thing I can confidently say is that it is complicated through and through. There is just so many issues and factors that go into that makes any objective discussion on it hard. I’m happy people are willing to speak out about the tough topics

[@SineN0mine3]

​@@lindmorn5909lol you forgot to blame the patriarchy. It's easy to point fingers at nebulous concepts like these as the underlying cause of any problem since they descriptive of how most countries operate. At the end of the day though, some countries fared a lot better than others and while corruption was rampant around the world governments at the time, it manifested in very different ways from one country to the next. That's because the problems aren't caused by idealogies or belief systems, but by individuals and groups who deliberately and knowingly screwed people over for their own selfish reasons. Everybody hates capitalism and nationalism, colonialism is not a relevant factor in this discussion, because the disease didn't exist in colonial times. If anything most people are mad that the ex colonial countries didn't do enough to help the countries they used to control, which is bordering on suggesting that colonialism was better than the current state of affairs. I'm not sure how you think we'd manage to survive the next pandemic without capitalism or nationalism but I think you're seriously overestimating how difficult it is to make people agree on what the "right thing to do" is.

[@LawL_LawL]

Keep up the insanely good work. Well researched videos, good production value, yet providing the delivery of critical information in simple terms that does not come with a prerequisite for knowledge or understanding of the topic in order to properly grasp. Couldn't ask for much better. As long as the formula remains the same I can hardly complain about an hour long video, or even something longer.

[@scienceisdope]

Amazing stuff Tom! Very well researched You inspire my work with every video you make!!

[@fuzzyplasmacat6357]

Thank you for laying out my frustrations over COVID response in coherent sentences without conspiracy leaps!

[@chuck1804]

Imagine making so much profit you could comfortably vaccinate the whole world and then just, deciding not to do that. 🤨

[@satah5045]

Thank you for putting so much time and effort into this upload

[@Brian-tn4cd]

Im reminded of a quote i cant really remember from where "he's a doctor, why would he want to cure me, his livelihood literally depends on me being sick"

[@orsonbradford3457]

Phenomenal. I learned so much thank you for all the hard work putting this together.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

That's too kind, I'm glad you found it interesting Orson!

[@kamilbidzinski475]

Documentary-level editing as usual lately. What a pleasure

[@williammidgley3905]

What I really appreciate about your videos is that you make your arguments from all perspectives, not just your own so it actually might pursuade someone. You also don't belittle people who don't disagree with you, but just take arguments clearly and thoroughly. This is how you change people's minds

[@John-eq8cu]

absolutely amazing. Definitely worthy of my time. Thank you tom for researching and sharing.

[@natekreimer7221]

I know there are a ton of far more important things to say about this incredibly engaging and important video, but that Disco Elysium comment hit hard. Same, Tom, Same.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

I did actually download it whilst I was editing this video and have played a very tiny bit. Then the editing took over and it slipped down my list again. I am planning on getting to it though!

[@camelopardalis84]

Someone should have filmed my reaction to the notification for this video popping up and sent it to you. You'd be amused and flattered. "Huh! Oh, god!"

[@dreadfullyDistinct683]

Thanks for including the annotated bibliography link in the description!

[@joycefarley8577]

Your work is always great but this one is outstanding!

[@skjoldgames]

Seeing as how we've publicly funded the private pharmaceuticals with tax dollars, I say we take it to a popular vote. All those who have been forcibly thrusted into the investment of these companies in favor of having them release patent rights to the public that funded them say, "I".

[@acabusarmies7279]

I!

[@zacheryeckard3051]

Ah, a vote. Unfortunately this is the US, where money is votes. We still lose.

[@skjoldgames]

​@@zacheryeckard3051 Haha! True enough! But don't you watch the news? All US elections are "fair" mate.

[@zacheryeckard3051]

@@skjoldgames I mean, they are. In a sense. It's everything leading up to them. The primaries are not and don't pretend to be. The system is fair in a strict sort of sense, our votes just don't mean much as part of the system. It's not a bug but a feature and all that.

[@skjoldgames]

@@zacheryeckard3051 Excellent recovery. Have you considered a career in politics?

[@ursafava6304]

As an immunocompromised person, my mental health has taken a huge hit as I've realized that I'm basically going to have to be a prisoner in my own home for the rest of my life because there are still so many people pretending this plague doesn't exist and those in power have now pretty much started acting like it's over.

[@privateemail9755]

Lmfao. You put so much on strangers to vaccinate themselves when in reality the vaccine won't get your chef to wash his hands after pissing, nor will it fix/update the equipment that keeps your food free of harmful bacteria. Nor will it stop the military from dumping radioactive materials at the beaches. I'm just saying. You're feeding into your own fears when there's plenty of hazards that could kill you on the daily. But hey, if it keeps you going to focus on one overblown issue rather than ones that will genuinely affect you, then have at it bud. Good luck with the whole living thing.

[@ReviewOrcsUSA]

lol, vaccinated still catch the virus and propagate higher titers of virus compared to pure bloods. you should flee from the vaccinated instead. or you could just eat normally (mostly raw meat) instead.

[@enriquegarciacota3914]

Hey, I’m sorry you are going over that. I hope that you can cope with it well and that you have a good social net to help you do so, in health and safety. I wish you courage, and hope.

[@reverendbarker650]

@@ReviewOrcsUSA I have a better idea, why don't you just STFU and consume some cane toads ? 😬

[@iamnohere]

@@privateemail9755 I: What the hell is this take? Does the fact that there are plenty hazards that can kill a person erase or in any way diminish the fact that the virus, too, is one such big effing hazard, especially to an immunocompromised person?

[@cinemaipswich4636]

Excellent work Tom. You have obviously put one hell of a lot of effort in this production. I think that all agree on that. Your work is through and precise.

[@DG_musician]

This is the pragmatic conversation on the subject that is very much needed.

[@GaasubaMeskhenet]

Move at the speed of trust!! If vaccines are too fast, what other methods can we use? Give people the freedom to stay home without fear when sick! no more evictions from primary residences!

[@SSSamuraiiiOne]

speaking of big pharma holding a strangle hold on vaccines. It isn't the first time they do this either. I am diabetic and require a large amount of insulin a year... Which basically amounts to me spending roughly 5000+ dollars a year on medication. Especially considering how cheap the stuff is to produce these days, it feels like we are just held at gun point just because companies like lilly haven't had enough money yet.

[@ricardofernandezdecordoba2170]

Great video. Amazing approach. As usual in an elegant and clever way of understanding reality. Also honored to be mention at the end of your videos. Great work Tom. You are a breeze of quality of information.

[@Sarah-sf3zp]

I never comment on youtube like ever, but I feel I must on this one, since the YT algorithm didn't show me this video looong after it had been uploaded, even though I am a regular and long time viewer. But the video is incredibly well done and so important, and it's criminal how little views it has for its quality. Truly one, if not *the* best you've done soo far. In general I also appreciate the more 'journalistic' tone in your essays compared to the more 'conversational' tone many of your peers employ. Not that I dislike the other style, but it gives your videos more gravitas and sets them apart from the rest, without making them boring or hard to follow. A very pleasing style, and thanks for your work!

[@Nphen]

I had seen this one up before but had a lot of other stuff I was watching. I'd love to see this get more than a million views. Being below 100k, along with your comment, make me think the video was suppressed.

[@ridlr9299]

That toilet paper and PS5’s comparison was spot on

[@bearcubdaycare]

This ignores the cheap, effective vaccine that the American government said "not interested" to (per NPR article). India took it up, 90% efficacy, $1-1.5 per dose.

[@seemlesslies]

He also swept under the rug about the fact they don't work at STOPING COVID.... They only work to minimize the symptoms. So it was impossible to stop the spread in the first place. "I'm not going to talk about the efficacy of the drugs.".....right this means you don't want to get canceled for spreading the real truth about these vaccines. Which is everyone is being a guinea pig for the largest medical ethical violation of human history.

[@tarqinquentinsson-obviousl957]

@@seemlesslies less symptoms = less transmission though...

[@seemlesslies]

@@tarqinquentinsson-obviousl957 Actually that's not the case. Generally less symptoms means MORE transmission a lot of the time. The reason being the worse you are the less likely you are to get out of bed and the less likely you are to be around other people. It is of course on a scale and at some point both extremes will generally get minimal transmission, but even if you're a silent carried you still transmit the virus through sheading you might be transmit it more because you don't even realize you have anything.

[@tarqinquentinsson-obviousl957]

@@seemlesslies ...which is why so many countries have had lockdowns and/or isolation for the infected alongside vaccination All things being equal the more symptomatic someone is, the more contagious they are. How much those respective groups expose themselves to others is another dimension You can't talk about this dimension when assessing the efficacy of the vaccine, as people's behaviour isn't impacted upon by it

[@davekash1]

@@tarqinquentinsson-obviousl957 I need to strongly disagree with this because by the same logic, people that are asymptomatic would not be contagious, while we know that they in fact are contagious.

[@Railgun5]

Thanks for bringing those problems to light! Like always, your videos are very well made, fun to watch, and well researched.

[@nstein2214]

Amazing video as usual. Very well done. always looks fwd to your videos no matter how long they are. The world needs more long form videos like this!

[@Sam-bn5bb]

Fantastic video, Tom. Although, I have a feeling the algorithm won’t like a lot of the words used in this video unfortunately. I hope it catches on more though, very valuable information here,

[@Sgublaka94]

48:05 well well well. If it isn’t the worst billionare and the bad guy I really should have been expecting…

[@Tom_Nicholas]

He does have a habit of popping up a lot…

[@rafaelarevalo8047]

You're wonderful at this stuff. I can get the feeling you're doing exactly what you should be doing. Thank you so much for your effort.

[@AwesomeCrackDealer]

Thank you so much for these insights, Tom

[@veda1947]

Extensively researched and thoroughly presented!! A humane and wonderful job!

[@naiveideen1638]

when the intro to a tom nicholas video is almost 13 minutes long, you know shit is fucked up.

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Haha, yeah I think the intro possibly could have been a video in itself!

[@managingbusiness141]

The work you do is awesome! Thank you!

[@MatthewCaunsfield]

Wow, this was incredibly comprehensive. Thanks!

[@Weissenschenkel]

I think I just watched one of the best videos about world inequity. Thank you, Tom! 💖

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Thank you, I'm glad you found it enlightening in some small way!

[@LillyP-xs5qe]

Vaccine apartheid is my new favourite term

[@supernsansa]

I can't believe that I ever thought that Gill Bates was a decent person.

[@nathanaelgazzard7989]

Had to hold off for a few of days to be in the right headspace to watch this but I’m here now and I’m loving it!

[@mandarmn]

Excellent video Tom! May I add a few points: 1. US prioritised pharma ingredients for local use, and revealed only after an outcry by Indian manufacturers regarding material embargo. 2. Pfizer / Moderna sought sovereign indemnity esp. when it was still unproven mRNA technology. They exploited government’ desperation and surprisingly western nations accepted these ridiculous terms without questioning them (all upside, no downside for companies!) 3. Vaccine “racism” where vaccines developed in other countries (India, China, Russia) underwent lot more scrutiny than revisions in efficacy claims of vaccines (efficacy drops significantly after 6 month for most brand names). In fact there were active campaigns to slander vaccines from these countries which could have helped global south.

[@ifeeltiredsleepy]

I mean those other countries didn't exactly prioritize the global south either. Russia licensed the Sputnik V to a UAE company to resell the vaccine at massive premiums. Likewise the CoronaVac from China had lackluster results in trials in Brazil (with efficacy rates of 50-70% much lower than every other major available vaccine), which makes the reported data from Chinese trials a bit questionable. Of course, the Chinese vaccine could have (and still could) helped ease burdens on countries with difficulty accessing more effective vaccines, including Sputnik V. Though really prioritizing access to more effective vaccines at this point would help more.

[@MakeOneSora]

@@ifeeltiredsleepy well india did tho, india produced it's own vaccine and supplied over 250 million vaccines to low income countries, even tho the vaccine was good countries like US and others from the gloabl north were not just subjecting it to massive scrutiny but also were actively trying to sabotage it's reputation. how about that tho?

[@ifeeltiredsleepy]

@@MakeOneSora The US didn't do anything to block Covaxin but it's had a number of safety issues in its production facilities. It failed inspections from Brazilian health officials in 2021 and this year it failed an inspection from the WHO. Bharat Biotech is not an instutition of altruism, it's just a capitalist vaccine producer in India.

[@MakeOneSora]

@@ifeeltiredsleepy okay I spoke too soon with what info I did know without looking into it (as someone who wants to be thorough in what I say I feel like this is a great embarrassment on my end), i apologize and thanks for the correction :)

[@Finfie]

i mean if you only look at the minutes, you are almost at 20 minutes. 1:30 mins over isn't bad

[@Tom_Nicholas]

Haha, succeeding on a technicality; I’ll take it!

[@NelsonStJames]

Bravo sir, and well done ! This type of information is much needed and appreciated.

[@nikolayvakrilov6068]

Liking and commenting right after starting the video. You deserve the high expectations, sir!