3 ms·

I don't see any realistic way to expand manufacturing capacities at that kind of scale in such a short time. There are a lot of things that are potential bottle

I don't see any realistic way to expand manufacturing capacities at that kind of scale in such a short time. There are a lot of things that are potential bottlenecks because the stuff you need isn't produced at that scale and there aren't unlimited numbers of people that have the right experience. And with producing a vaccine it is extremely important that the production results in exactly what you intend to produce, to ensure it is safe and effective. That part is done by designing processes, carefully checking that they work and then strictly adhering to them. That is not an activity that is easy to scale up.

readams 6y ago
By now the scale could be far larger than it is currently. Moving up vaccine timetables by just a few months would be enormously valuable. I never said it was easy, but the answer was not "let's do nothing because it's hard."
- bluGill 6y ago
  You are speaking from hindsight. Just a few months ago the smart money was on the mRNA vaccines not completing phase-3 before some of the more conventional vaccines that we already have the ability to produce in large quantities. That mRNA completed phase-3 trials first was a big shock to everyone. That they are significantly better than the conventional vaccines is also a big shock. If we knew about these shocks 1 year ago we would have invested a lot more money in mRNA (and none at all in all the other vaccines - some failed trails, some are in progress, and the rest are are not as good) and had more manufacturing as a result.
  - abacadaba 6y ago
    we certainly knew there was a potential for this "shock"
    - bluGill 6y ago
      Yeah, but it was a long shot potential. If it hadn't worked out you would be mad at the government for allocating money to this stupid bet instead of something else (probably J&J which wouldn't have come out any sooner)
  - baybal2 6y ago
    From what I understood, despite all of other advantages, they still need bigger, and more frequent doses.

readams 6y ago

By now the scale could be far larger than it is currently. Moving up vaccine timetables by just a few months would be enormously valuable. I never said it was easy, but the answer was not "let's do nothing because it's hard."

bluGill 6y ago
You are speaking from hindsight. Just a few months ago the smart money was on the mRNA vaccines not completing phase-3 before some of the more conventional vaccines that we already have the ability to produce in large quantities. That mRNA completed phase-3 trials first was a big shock to everyone. That they are significantly better than the conventional vaccines is also a big shock. If we knew about these shocks 1 year ago we would have invested a lot more money in mRNA (and none at all in all the other vaccines - some failed trails, some are in progress, and the rest are are not as good) and had more manufacturing as a result.
- abacadaba 6y ago
  we certainly knew there was a potential for this "shock"
  - bluGill 6y ago
    Yeah, but it was a long shot potential. If it hadn't worked out you would be mad at the government for allocating money to this stupid bet instead of something else (probably J&J which wouldn't have come out any sooner)
- baybal2 6y ago
  From what I understood, despite all of other advantages, they still need bigger, and more frequent doses.