The government is being criticised for mixed messaging on social gatherings - nothing new there - but why are they so reluctant to mandate, rather than merely issue guidance?
Could it be because that if government guidance were to become mandatory, venues would be forced to give customers who cancel a refund. Under guidance, they needn't, thus aiding the economy.
Some are also railing against the profits being made by Big Pharma vaccines. Anyone, however, is welcome to develop their own vaccine and invest the huge sums involved in research and testing. It's a bit off to criticise companies that engage in such work.
Before Covid, ROI on research and development was 1.8%, down from between 8 or 10%. Who would invest for such returns? However, that's likely to increase with the Covid vaccine, and can you blame them - they're not altruists. Big Pharma don't develop new drugs in isolation; they're developed is association with university research groups funded by Big Pharma and, in the case of the UK, with the NHS, who have the patients for trials.
That said, with warnings that future viruses could be far more devastating than Covid, is there now an argument for nationalising medical research, as it is fast becoming critical infrastructure? The problem there is that it's in the hands of Big Pharma precisely because such companies are far more efficient at developing new drugs than government and take risks which, under government control, would result in finding cuts in the event of failure, which is commonplace in drug development.
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