COVID-19
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How Globalization Brought Us COVID-19 Vaccines (And Better Public Health Overall)
Setting aside my own globalist sentiments, is worth noting that all the top COVID-19 vaccines are products of international collaboration, and a testament to the fruits of globalization. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine (marketed in some places as Covishield) is the most straightforward example, as it was developed in a partnership between Oxford University in the U.K.… Continue reading
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Africa’s Little Known COVID-19 Success Stories
As many of the world’s wealthiest countries continue to battle COVID-19, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa—considered a looming public health crisis given its poverty and lack of healthcare infrastructure—are actually doing a more than decent job at keeping the worst case scenarios at bay. As the Guardian reports: Senegal is in a good position because… Continue reading
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The Developing Countries Winning Against COVID-19
It’s been heartening to see that many poorer countries or regions are faring a lot better than expected. For all the death and suffering that’s occured, it’s important to acknowledge the deaths and pain that haven’t—and to derive some important lessons, since these are places that don’t have our wealth and resources. Costa Rica has… Continue reading
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The Pandemic Success Story No One Has Heard Of
Senegal is the pandemic success story no one has heard of—which actually tells you how successful it has been! The much-maligned WHO, as well as the CDC and UNICEF, played a key role in that. In this country of 16 million known for its peaceful democracy and sense of community, Senegal’s response to the coronavirus… Continue reading
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Do You Want a Strong UN or Not?
The irony of Americans demanding that the WHO stand up to China is that this would require the UN to have the kind of power that Americans repeatedly (and fearfully) object to. You can’t demand that an organization kowtow to sovereign states…and then complain when it has no choice but to kowtow to sovereign states.… Continue reading
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The Poorer Nations Standing Firm Against COVID-19
It’s been heartening to see that many poorer countries or regions are faring a lot better than expected. For all the death and suffering that’s occured, it’s important to acknowledge the deaths and pain that haven’t—and to derive some important lessons, since these are places that don’t have our wealth and resources. Costa Rica has… Continue reading
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The First Global Event
The novel coronavirus outbreak may be the first time in our species’s 250,000 year history that virtually everyone is being affected by the same event simultaneously. As Joshua Keating of Slate notes: “Global event,” in this case, means a distinct occurrence that will be a significant life event for nearly every person on the planet.… Continue reading
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Expecting Too Much from the W.H.O.
The World Health Organization’s annual budget is roughly the size of a large hospital and one-fourth the budget for the C.D.C. With these comparatively small funds, the W.H.O. must carry out its official mission of ensuring “the highest possible level of health” for “all peoples.” That includes eradicating diseases (such as smallpox and soon polio),… Continue reading
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COVID-19 and Glass Houses
China deserves criticism for its initial handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, its continued air of secrecy that makes it difficult to verify its alleged success, and its blocking of Taiwan—a major pandemic success story—from the W.H.O. and other international institutions. But I feel a lot of American criticism is of the “glass houses” variety. Our… Continue reading
About Me
Humanist | Bibliophile | Writer | Wiki Editor | World Citizen | Esquire (J.D. / LL.M.)