
Germany and US wrestle over coronavirus vaccine: report - Tenoke
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-and-us-wrestle-over-coronavirus-vaccine-report/a-52777990
======
rwieruch
_" Trump was doing everything he could to secure a vaccine for the United
States, "but only for the US," the newspaper quoted an anonymous German
government source as saying."_

Related German News: [https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article206555143/Corona-
USA-w...](https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article206555143/Corona-USA-will-
Zugriff-auf-deutsche-Impfstoff-Firma.html)

One related Tweet which goes around:
[https://twitter.com/thorstenbenner/status/123908864178962841...](https://twitter.com/thorstenbenner/status/1239088641789628417)

~~~
Tenoke
I personally first saw it in this tweet translating the Welt article[0] and
after looking into it other sources seem to agree.

For what is worth, in Germany's case, in particular, there is very little
concern with them not sharing the vaccine, but I can see how the US might
think it can profit by having exclusive rights to it initially..

0\.
[https://twitter.com/nicktolhurst/status/1239117898901266432](https://twitter.com/nicktolhurst/status/1239117898901266432)

~~~
creato
I can't. Any businessman/profiteer that thinks IP rights are going to be
maintained in this case is a moron. Trying to secure exclusivity in this case
is obviously futile.

This is almost certainly about securing a supply of doses, which well duh. Any
government voluntarily putting itself at the back of that line will be
overthrown immediately.

~~~
Nerdfest
Unfortunately, the businessman involved is a moron.

------
alexandercrohde
I would upvote this if I felt the source were reliable enough. Is Welt.de a
well-regarded source?

~~~
LeanderK
I don't think dw would publish articles without a reliable source. Also
welt.de is the online-presence of "Die Welt" (the world in english), which is
a major german newspaper. I would say that it's not known for world-class
journalistic results and major breakthrough investigative journalistic pieces,
but it's still a reliable, conservative newspaper that does solid journalistic
work.

------
creato
I think this story is blowing up due to the distinction between "exclusive
supply of XXX million doses" and "exclusive IP rights".

The former is something I expect every government to be trying to do.

The latter, which seems to be the common interpretation of this story, is so
unbelievable that I can't believe it. It doesn't even make sense, there's zero
chance of such a business strategy even working. I doubt there is a single
government on the planet that would enforce or respect a patent in this case
if the price or supply of this vaccine is constrained in any way.

~~~
okr
Yup. Totally agree.

------
menotyou
CEO Dan Menichella was already kicked out 4 days ago:

[https://www.curevac.com/news/company-founder-ingmar-hoerr-
su...](https://www.curevac.com/news/company-founder-ingmar-hoerr-succeeds-
daniel-menichella-as-ceo-of-curevac-ag)

~~~
kken
The timeline of their press releases is interesting, to say the least:

[https://www.curevac.com//news](https://www.curevac.com//news)

03-03-2020

CureVac CEO Daniel Menichella Discusses Coronavirus Vaccine Development with
U.S. President Donald Trump and Members of Coronavirus Task Force

03-11-2020

Company Founder Ingmar Hoerr Succeeds Daniel Menichella as CEO of CureVac AG

03-15-2020

CureVac focuses on the development of mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine to
protect people worldwide

~~~
rv-de
That's sending a shiver down my spine. You rarely see something that so
succinctly summarizes what's wrong with this world and how there's still hope.
Trump is the closest this civilization got to an antisocial, bat shit crazy,
Bond style super villain since that infamous Austrian fellow from the 30s. I'm
asking where is Batman when you need him?

------
nablaoperator
I'm wondering what the Americans think about that and if it will be covered in
American media.

~~~
robotbikes
As someone who was born and raised in America, the idea of a making a vaccine
exclusive to the U.S. is morally repugnant, disgusting and outrageous. I hope
that this doesn't come to be in this way. Any vaccine developed for COVID-19
should be free and shared with everyone regardless of income or geographical
location. That is the only sane and compassionate thing to do. I hope more
details emerge about this.

------
nablaoperator
CureVac press release: [https://www.curevac.com/news/curevac-focuses-on-the-
developm...](https://www.curevac.com/news/curevac-focuses-on-the-development-
of-mrna-based-coronavirus-vaccine-to-protect-people-worldwide)

"...rejects allegations about offers for acquisition of the company or its
technology."

~~~
nablaoperator
However: `Germany’s Health Ministry confirmed a report in newspaper Welt am
Sonntag, which said President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure the
company CureVac to the United States. Contacted by Reuters, a spokeswoman for
the German Health Ministry said: “We confirm the report in the Welt am
Sonntag.”`

[https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/15/coronavirus-germany-tries-
to...](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/15/coronavirus-germany-tries-to-stop-us-
luring-away-firm-seeking-vaccine.html?__source=sharebar|twitter&par=sharebar)

~~~
InTheArena
That is a different thing then what was alleged in this article (that the
Americans were trying to produce a vaccine only for the US).

By the way, the trick with anonymous sources is to always see who is actually
quoted in the article, and assume that the anonymous source is what the real
source wants to say, but doesn't obviously want to say it. In this case:

Karl Lauterbach, a professor of health economics and epidemiology who is also
a senior lawmaker with the Social Democrats, junior partners in Chancellor
Angela Merkel’s coalition, tweeted in reaction to the Welt am Sonntag report:

“The exclusive sale of a possible vaccine to the USA must be prevented by all
means. Capitalism has limits.”

~~~
nablaoperator
The article says: `Welt am Sonntag quoted an unidentified German government
source as saying Trump was trying to secure the scientists’ work exclusively,
and would do anything to get a vaccine for the United States, “but only for
the United States.”` as well as `Contacted by Reuters, a spokeswoman for the
German Health Ministry said: “We confirm the report in the Welt am Sonntag.”`

So the question is: What does `only for the United States` mean exactly?

~~~
InTheArena
If you go look at the report, the report only references that the US was in
talks to fund vaccines, not the "only for the US" part.

~~~
nablaoperator
You mean the report by "Welt am Sonntag"? They say `Der Grund: US-Präsident
Donald Trump versucht offenbar [...] das Medikament exklusiv für sein Land zu
sichern. Das erfuhr WELT AM SONNTAG aus deutschen Regierungskreisen.`

Translated: US president Donald Trump tried to safeguard the medication
exclusively for his country. WELT AM SONNTAG got this information from
government sources.

~~~
InTheArena
No I mean the confirmation.

------
pulisse
FWIW, the substance of this article has been confirmed, on the record, by the
German Health Ministry.[1]

[1] [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-
german...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-germany-
usa/germany-tries-to-stop-us-from-luring-away-firm-seeking-coronavirus-
vaccine-idUSKBN2120IV)

------
rv-de
I'm not sure if I really have and know all the details. But if the goal really
is to silo a vaccine then complying with this offer should be considered high
treason against the German state, the EU and basically the rest of the world.
It's the politicians duty to draw here a clear red line and to enforce it with
any means necessary.

------
WA
$1B is too low. They have $360M of VC capital alone. Also: selling a vaccine
against Corona (or some licensing deal) will make them A LOT more money than
$1B.

------
InTheArena
this kind of fear mongering and panic is absolutely par for the course with
any panic. More often then not it leads to racism, hatred and death. Usually
it’s the Jews or the Russians, the masons or some powerful sneaky conspiracy
that had the cure and won’t allow anyone else to have it.

It sounds like the FDA is trying to fund a vaccine, maybe by a acquisition
(but this article isn’t clear) or by a ton of money with a distribution
agreement. It sounds like someone is afraid that means the US is going to kill
them by denying access and decided to make a scary anonymous claim. (Which is
totally unsubstantiated in the document)

Let’s wait for the Facts before going to pitchforks, fires and racial
minorities being strung up, shall we?

This is the exact same kind of conspiracy theory people were saying about this
being a weaponized virus the Chinese leaked or the Iranians claiming that the
US army sprayed this virus Qom to kill the faithful.

A good trick to deal with anonymous sources is to see who else is also quoted
in the same articles or related article about the topic, and then assume they
are the author, who just doesn't want to be seen being partisan or bending the
truth.

"Karl Lauterbach, a professor of health economics and epidemiology who is also
a senior lawmaker with the Social Democrats, junior partners in Chancellor
Angela Merkel’s coalition, tweeted in reaction to the Welt am Sonntag report:

"The exclusive sale of a possible vaccine to the USA must be prevented by all
means. Capitalism has limits"

From what I understand Karl is one of the backers of a move to a single payer
system, and the elimination of private insurance in Germany -
Bürgerversicherung. So I suspect what happened here is that the US is
investing a huge amount of money into vaccines (which they should be doing),
as well as making sure there is capacity for producing that vaccine (which
they should also do), and a socialist in Germany got worried that there will
not be any for them, unless their government has ownership and gave the wire a
good anonymous sound bite.

~~~
haunter
What about straight from the company itself?

03.03 CureVac CEO meets Trump [0]

03.11 CureVac removes the CEO [1]

03.15 CureVac denies the american buyout news [2]

[0] [https://www.curevac.com/news/curevac-ceo-daniel-
menichella-b...](https://www.curevac.com/news/curevac-ceo-daniel-menichella-
ber%C3%A4t-mit-us-pr%C3%A4sident-donald-trump-und-mitgliedern-der-corona-task-
force-entwicklungsm%C3%B6glichkeiten-eines-coronavirus-impfstoffes)

[1] [https://www.curevac.com/news/company-founder-ingmar-hoerr-
su...](https://www.curevac.com/news/company-founder-ingmar-hoerr-succeeds-
daniel-menichella-as-ceo-of-curevac-ag)

[2] [https://www.curevac.com/news/curevac-focuses-on-the-
developm...](https://www.curevac.com/news/curevac-focuses-on-the-development-
of-mrna-based-coronavirus-vaccine-to-protect-people-worldwide)

~~~
InTheArena
They denied it, did they not?

~~~
madez
No, they did not deny it. What they said is that they won't be bought. They
did not deny that the Trump administration tried to get exclusive access.

------
BlargMcLarg
This likely sounds like a conspiracy. I've been wondering if any country would
be bold enough to make a powerplay to seize control over something amidst the
rampage of this virus. For any psychopath, this seems like a great time to get
ahead economically or detriment other countries in some form. I don't see
Trump seizing control over a possible vaccine as something that'll benefit the
rest of the world, either, without a hefty pricetag.

~~~
sorokod
It's possible, the black death didn't stop politics in the 14th century.

