Monday, March 16, 2020
Not for sale
There have been some political lows in the past, but yesterday's news that Donald Trump offered a German medical company “large sums of money” for exclusive rights to a Covid-19 vaccine must feature as one of the lowest.
The Guardian says that the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, under the headline “Trump vs Berlin”, reported Trump offered $1bn to Tübingen-based biopharmaceutical company CureVac to secure the vaccine “only for the United States”.
They say that the report prompted fury in Berlin. “International co-operation is important now, not national self-interest,” said Erwin Rueddel, a conservative lawmaker on the German parliament’s health committee.
Christian Lindner, leader of the liberal FDP party, accused Trump of electioneering, saying: “Obviously Trump will use any means available in an election campaign.”
The German health minister, Jens Spahn, said a takeover of CureVac by the Trump administration was “off the table”. CureVac would only develop vaccine “for the whole world”, Spahn said, “not for individual countries”.
Worldwide infections have grown to more than more than 86,000, according to the Johns Hopkins university tracker, while cases inside China stood at 80,860 as of Monday. Deaths outside China have risen to more than 3,241, while deaths in mainland China stand at 3,208 as of Monday.
The German government is absolutely right, Trump's brand of capitalism does not belong in this crisis. This is a time for world leadership not national one-up-man-ship.
The Guardian says that the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, under the headline “Trump vs Berlin”, reported Trump offered $1bn to Tübingen-based biopharmaceutical company CureVac to secure the vaccine “only for the United States”.
They say that the report prompted fury in Berlin. “International co-operation is important now, not national self-interest,” said Erwin Rueddel, a conservative lawmaker on the German parliament’s health committee.
Christian Lindner, leader of the liberal FDP party, accused Trump of electioneering, saying: “Obviously Trump will use any means available in an election campaign.”
The German health minister, Jens Spahn, said a takeover of CureVac by the Trump administration was “off the table”. CureVac would only develop vaccine “for the whole world”, Spahn said, “not for individual countries”.
Worldwide infections have grown to more than more than 86,000, according to the Johns Hopkins university tracker, while cases inside China stood at 80,860 as of Monday. Deaths outside China have risen to more than 3,241, while deaths in mainland China stand at 3,208 as of Monday.
The German government is absolutely right, Trump's brand of capitalism does not belong in this crisis. This is a time for world leadership not national one-up-man-ship.
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Capitalism! Socialism! Which is best? I say neither for you can see shortages on the supermarket shelves in both systems.We are ALL living on this Planet and we should ALL cooperate. in times of crisis (and maybe always or is that expecting too much?).
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