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XorNot 19 hours ago

> .. what were you doing in 2020?

Waiting several years for widespread vaccine availability, and practicing good hygiene and social distancing.

Viruses aren't so good at seizing and holding territory.

toast0 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> Viruses aren't so good at seizing and holding territory.

Neither is infantry that's sick with the flu, which may have been a factor in the ending of of WWI.

Tis hard to practice good hygiene and social distancing in the trenches.

If one side had better access to vaccines or access to better vaccines in a conflict during a pandemic, it would be significant, regardless of how the pandemic came about.

ben_w 19 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

As I recall, the economic damage of the pandemic was ~ "it's worth spending ten billion dollars to make the vaccinations arrive one day sooner": https://www.newsweek.com/operation-warp-speed-what-deal-opin...

(And that was just the cost to the USA, not the world as a whole).

XorNot 18 hours ago | parent [-]

Which does not change the fact that the pandemic was a peacetime crisis where it was possible but not practical to keep most systems running if needed.

Coronavirus wasn't bullseyeing vaccine shipments in the Pacific or taking down air freighters.

EDIT: I mean I don't know why you think this is a catch-22: countries pursue both capabilities, and the UK has a pharmaceutical industry and on shore manufacturing capabilities.

Whereas many industrialized nations are struggling to keep steel making capabilities on shore and running. So why is steel special? Because currently it's the one we're in danger of losing (and much harder to ship globally even if you have allies).