At the call of the European Union, many countries, kings, Gates Foundation and singer Madonna pitched in to contribute $8 billion to fund a COVID-19 vaccine. The United States of America stayed away from the fundraiser, China participated but contributing nothing and WHO leadership was also there. How these funds will be used and how much to which country is not clear? The contagion is stalking us with the instinct of a natural killer and we are witnessing a very important shift in the terrain of superpower rivalry on developing a vaccine, prescribing drug Remdesivir and usage of 5G technology opines Delhi University Associate Professor Kumar Sanjay Singh.

UNTIL LATE LAST YEAR, THE IMPENDING ROLLOUT OF 5G infrastructure was a key battleground for control over the industries of the future between the United States and China.

With dramatically higher data transfer speeds and decreased latency, 5G carried the promise of revolutionizing all spheres of daily life: from self-driving vehicles to health­care, to the internet, the digitalization of industrial production processes and smart cities. For the first time in modern history, China was in a prime position to lead the world in the rollout of a potentially game-chang­ing technology. This prospect caused fierce pushback from Washington.

With the COVID-19 infestation, all this has changed. An intense rivalry is building up, fuelling a scramble for an effective vaccine. Once again, we are witnessing a battle royale being waged between USA and China.

Inequitable access to the vaccine being the cornerstone of the emerging world order; the phrase, “How the other half dies!” will acquire a strange poignance.

The controversy around Remdesivir is symptomatic of the brewing rivalry. While Anthony Fauci, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, said a U.S. government-run trial met its overall target, full details haven’t been published. At the same time, the only study for which full data is public -published in The Lancet medical journal -showed the opposite.

What thickens the plot is the fact that US promotion of Remdesivir coincided with the announcement on 28 April 2020 by Linear Clinical Research, Perth of a launch of a human trial of COVID-19 vaccine developed by China.

Of course, the race also includes European countries such as the UK and Switzerland. India and Cuba have a fairly developed program too. However, other than the US and China, none have the financial muscles to exercise monopoly control over production and distribution of the vaccine.

The parallels between the rivalry over 5G and VV (Virus Vaccine) are too striking to be ignored. Whether we acknowledge it or not; the combatants seem to be aware that the world will be prostrate before the victor.

Inequitable access to the vaccine being the cornerstone of the emerging world order; the phrase, “How the other half dies!” will acquire a strange poignance.

Title Image courtesy: https://cen.acs.org