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Germany tries to stop U.S. poaching German firm seeking coronavirus vaccine

OscarLevant

OscarLevant

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At times like this we need a president who is high-minded, cooperative with our allies, a president who is not trying to engage in selfish acts that would harm our allies or benefit us at their expense.

But that be would like trying to ask a scorpion not to sting people.

But, of course, Trump is not intelligent enough to realize that doing this will backfire and make him look like the poster child for machiavellianism.

Yes that would probably benefit us but do we really think at a time like this a German firm is going to betray its own country? And what about the image of America to the world that it has fallen from its original idea of being the beacon of Hope and justice down to that of an America who is poaching a firm from another country in a selfish manner, that we are just a another dog-eat-dog country and everyone be damned but America because in America it's America First and screw everyone else -- that's what Trump's slogan really means.



Germany tries to stop U.S. poaching German firm seeking coronavirus vaccine - Reuters

* Berlin is trying to stop Washington from persuading a German company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine.

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, and the German government was making counter-offers to tempt it to stay.

“The German government is very interested in ensuring that vaccines and active substances against the new coronavirus are also developed in Germany and Europe,” the newspaper quoted a Health Ministry official as saying. “In this regard, the government is in intensive exchange with the company CureVac.”

Contacted by Reuters, a spokeswoman for the German Health Ministry said: “We confirm the report in the Welt am Sonntag.”

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.”
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OscarLevant said:
At times like this we need a president who is high-minded, cooperative with our allies, apresident who is not trying to engage in selfish acts that would harm our allies or benefit us at their expense.

But that be would like trying to ask a scorpion not to sting people.

But, of course, Trump is not intelligent enough to realize that doing this will backfire
And make him look like the poster child for machiavellianism.
Click to expand...

In a perfect world the effort would be spread all over the world, many separate labs working to the same end and cooperating to avoid duplication. Only an ignorant selfish brat would try to win a competition in this.
 
OscarLevant said:
At times like this we need a president who is high-minded, cooperative with our allies, a president who is not trying to engage in selfish acts that would harm our allies or benefit us at their expense.

But that be would like trying to ask a scorpion not to sting people.

But, of course, Trump is not intelligent enough to realize that doing this will backfire and make him look like the poster child for machiavellianism.

Yes that would probably benefit us but do we really think at a time like this a German firm is going to betray its own country? And what about the image of America to the world that it has fallen from its original idea of being the beacon of Hope and justice down to that of an America who is poaching a firm from another country in a selfish manner, that we are just a another dog-eat-dog country and everyone be damned but America because in America it's America First and screw everyone else -- that's what Trump's slogan really means.
Click to expand...

Get for the United States but ONLY for the United States? Really?

So we are to believe the idea isn't to bring the research here where there are vast pharmaceutical, financial, and equipment resources in order to find a cure, or at least a treatment, as fast as possible? That the primary purpose is to insure no one else gets it?

IMO the paranoia is strong in anyone who buys into this.
 
OscarLevant said:
At times like this we need a president who is high-minded, cooperative with our allies, a president who is not trying to engage in selfish acts that would harm our allies or benefit us at their expense.

But that be would like trying to ask a scorpion not to sting people.

But, of course, Trump is not intelligent enough to realize that doing this will backfire and make him look like the poster child for machiavellianism.

Yes that would probably benefit us but do we really think at a time like this a German firm is going to betray its own country? And what about the image of America to the world that it has fallen from its original idea of being the beacon of Hope and justice down to that of an America who is poaching a firm from another country in a selfish manner, that we are just a another dog-eat-dog country and everyone be damned but America because in America it's America First and screw everyone else -- that's what Trump's slogan really means.
Click to expand...

Well, if you care more about Germany than the US, I can see a justification for trashing Trump for putting America First.

In any case, why can't that German company do research in both countries? Sounds like that would be a win-win-win to me.
 
a U.S. official said: “This story is wildly overplayed. The U.S. government has spoken with many (more than 25) companies that claim they can help with a vaccine. Most of these companies already received seed funding from U.S. investors.”


There are also like a dozen companies who have developed a vaccine and the vaccine is now in testing. At least one of these companies is American.

Testing takes like a year.
 
OscarLevant said:
At times like this we need a president who is high-minded, cooperative with our allies, a president who is not trying to engage in selfish acts that would harm our allies or benefit us at their expense.

But that be would like trying to ask a scorpion not to sting people.

But, of course, Trump is not intelligent enough to realize that doing this will backfire and make him look like the poster child for machiavellianism.

Yes that would probably benefit us but do we really think at a time like this a German firm is going to betray its own country? And what about the image of America to the world that it has fallen from its original idea of being the beacon of Hope and justice down to that of an America who is poaching a firm from another country in a selfish manner, that we are just a another dog-eat-dog country and everyone be damned but America because in America it's America First and screw everyone else -- that's what Trump's slogan really means.
Click to expand...

When Trump says, 'America First' :usflag2: Other countries say, :moon: when we need them.

Three years ago when Trump addressed the United Nations, the time everyone laughed at him, he proclaimed that he would pursue protectionism, and 'America First'. We liberals knew what that meant and it wasn't good. Yet, Trump supporters cheered that approach and couldn't for the life of them figure out why that wouldn't be a 'good thing' for this country. In times such as these, we're about to find out why that's a bad approach.
 
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I don't approve of Trump, but I can't help but thinking that if one or two other administrations I can think of had done this, it would have been praised as an effort to promote the state of research in the US.
 
Captain Adverse said:
Get for the United States but ONLY for the United States? Really?

So we are to believe the idea isn't to bring the research here where there are vast pharmaceutical, financial, and equipment resources in order to find a cure, or at least a treatment, as fast as possible? That the primary purpose is to insure no one else gets it?

IMO the paranoia is strong in anyone who buys into this.
Click to expand...

Mycroft said:
Well, if you care more about Germany than the US, I can see a justification for trashing Trump for putting America First.

In any case, why can't that German company do research in both countries? Sounds like that would be a win-win-win to me.
Click to expand...

Typical cultists, deny that the Trump administration was trying to make it exclusive for the US because you might have to criticize him. If it was just to share with everyone then the US doesn't need to buy it. It will be blocked anyways because Germany has legislation to prevent hostile takeover of critical German companies by foreign powers.
 
OscarLevant said:
At times like this we need a president who is high-minded, cooperative with our allies, a president who is not trying to engage in selfish acts that would harm our allies or benefit us at their expense.
But that be would like trying to ask a scorpion not to sting people.
But, of course, Trump is not intelligent enough to realize that doing this will backfire and make him look like the poster child for machiavellianism.
Yes that would probably benefit us but do we really think at a time like this a German firm is going to betray its own country? And what about the image of America to the world that it has fallen from its original idea of being the beacon of Hope and justice down to that of an America who is poaching a firm from another country in a selfish manner, that we are just a another dog-eat-dog country and everyone be damned but America because in America it's America First and screw everyone else -- that's what Trump's slogan really means.
Click to expand...


What a load of hyperbole and pure BS ... :lamo


We have here a representative of a German company - one of 25 international companies - sitting with the US president and claiming they can positively develop a vaccine.

If they can, why aren't they working on it already?!? Because they need money first and apparently the EU hasn't offered them anything so far or they wouldn't be sitting with the US president.

So, Trump offers them resources and money, but in return wants the development, testing and first recipient of a vaccine to happen in the US.

What is wrong with that?!?

After that talk, the German government starts a "monetary counter offer" to convince the company to start their development in Germany.

Why didn't they give that company the money in the first place?!? Maybe because they are waiting for a miracle to happen? /s


On a side note about this company: it hasn't developed anything in the last 10 years; in fact no one was funding their early pandemic research ... except for the US.
That's right; we are already investing in pandemic research with said company.

"... “I was already thinking in 2011 about outbreak scenario, but you know what? No one was interested,” he said, citing investors and even a large foundation that turned him down.
Eventually, they got funding from DARPA, the US agency that has long seen stopping pandemics as part of its defense mandate. ..."

CureVac’s Ingmar Hoerr tells us why he returned to take on a pandemic; NGM loses a president – Endpoints News


Why are we paying a German company for pandemic research when we are not allowed to benefit from it?!?
 
OscarLevant said:
At times like this we need a president who is high-minded, cooperative with our allies, a president who is not trying to engage in selfish acts that would harm our allies or benefit us at their expense.

But that be would like trying to ask a scorpion not to sting people.

But, of course, Trump is not intelligent enough to realize that doing this will backfire and make him look like the poster child for machiavellianism.

Yes that would probably benefit us but do we really think at a time like this a German firm is going to betray its own country? And what about the image of America to the world that it has fallen from its original idea of being the beacon of Hope and justice down to that of an America who is poaching a firm from another country in a selfish manner, that we are just a another dog-eat-dog country and everyone be damned but America because in America it's America First and screw everyone else -- that's what Trump's slogan really means.
Click to expand...
This is why criticism of Trump often gets dismissed. On one hand they complain that Trump didnt do enough ahead of time to be prepared for a pandemic but when he tries to attract labs here to help deal with future crises he gets criticized for that too.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
trouble13 said:
This is why criticism of Trump often gets dismissed. On one hand they complain that Trump didnt do enough ahead of time to be prepared for a pandemic but when he tries to attract labs here to help deal with future crises he gets criticized for that too.
...
Click to expand...


Never mind the fact that we are already paying that company for research ... see my post #10.
 
Barnacle said:
What a load of hyperbole and pure BS ... :lamo


We have here a representative of a German company - one of 25 international companies - sitting with the US president and claiming they can positively develop a vaccine.

If they can, why aren't they working on it already?!? Because they need money first and apparently the EU hasn't offered them anything so far or they wouldn't be sitting with the US president.

So, Trump offers them resources and money, but in return wants the development, testing and first recipient of a vaccine to happen in the US.

What is wrong with that?!?

After that talk, the German government starts a "monetary counter offer" to convince the company to start their development in Germany.

Why didn't they give that company the money in the first place?!? Maybe because they are waiting for a miracle to happen? /s


On a side note about this company: it hasn't developed anything in the last 10 years; in fact no one was funding their early pandemic research ... except for the US.
That's right; we are already investing in pandemic research with said company.

"... “I was already thinking in 2011 about outbreak scenario, but you know what? No one was interested,” he said, citing investors and even a large foundation that turned him down.
Eventually, they got funding from DARPA, the US agency that has long seen stopping pandemics as part of its defense mandate. ..."

CureVac’s Ingmar Hoerr tells us why he returned to take on a pandemic; NGM loses a president – Endpoints News


Why are we paying a German company for pandemic research when we are not allowed to benefit from it?!?
Click to expand...

Sounds like the screwing up is even bigger than we knew from the OP. If what you say here is true the Trump administration is ****ing up by the numbers, all down the line.
'Course, the president is not responsible, amIright?
 
Captain Adverse said:
Get for the United States but ONLY for the United States? Really?

So we are to believe the idea isn't to bring the research here where there are vast pharmaceutical, financial, and equipment resources in order to find a cure, or at least a treatment, as fast as possible? That the primary purpose is to insure no one else gets it?

IMO the paranoia is strong in anyone who buys into this.
Click to expand...
We have these things called Internet web conference hosting sites. They arent new. Our people can work with their people, and even different groups from all over the world instead of being selfish pricks.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
 
Barnacle said:
What a load of hyperbole and pure BS ... :lamo


We have here a representative of a German company - one of 25 international companies - sitting with the US president and claiming they can positively develop a vaccine.

If they can, why aren't they working on it already?!? Because they need money first and apparently the EU hasn't offered them anything so far or they wouldn't be sitting with the US president.

So, Trump offers them resources and money, but in return wants the development, testing and first recipient of a vaccine to happen in the US.

What is wrong with that?!?

After that talk, the German government starts a "monetary counter offer" to convince the company to start their development in Germany.

Why didn't they give that company the money in the first place?!? Maybe because they are waiting for a miracle to happen? /s


On a side note about this company: it hasn't developed anything in the last 10 years; in fact no one was funding their early pandemic research ... except for the US.
That's right; we are already investing in pandemic research with said company.

"... “I was already thinking in 2011 about outbreak scenario, but you know what? No one was interested,” he said, citing investors and even a large foundation that turned him down.
Eventually, they got funding from DARPA, the US agency that has long seen stopping pandemics as part of its defense mandate. ..."

CureVac’s Ingmar Hoerr tells us why he returned to take on a pandemic; NGM loses a president – Endpoints News


Why are we paying a German company for pandemic research when we are not allowed to benefit from it?!?
Click to expand...
Before you cry bull**** about this deal; why, if we paid for CureVac's research is Trump offering "very large sums of money" to the company? Either Trump hasn't taken the time to figure out we own the research or we don't own it. Additionally why is Trump offering money to a corporation that is non-productive. Either Trump has been fooled or the company is producing a vaccine.

The deal wasn't that the US gets the vaccine first. The word used was 'exclusive'. That means only the US gets the vaccine, other countries do not.
 
weaver2 said:
Before you cry bull**** about this deal; why, if we paid for CureVac's research is Trump offering "very large sums of money" to the company? Either Trump hasn't taken the time to figure out we own the research or we don't own it. Additionally why is Trump offering money to a corporation that is non-productive. Either Trump has been fooled or the company is producing a vaccine.

The deal wasn't that the US gets the vaccine first. The word used was 'exclusive'. That means only the US gets the vaccine, other countries do not.
Click to expand...


Unanimous German sources use the word "exclusive". My US sources say that's BS. :lamo
 
Mycroft said:
Well, if you care more about Germany than the US, I can see a justification for trashing Trump for putting America First.

In any case, why can't that German company do research in both countries? Sounds like that would be a win-win-win to me.
Click to expand...

That isn't the point, the point is Trump is trying to NOT do a win - win, only American wins, and not Germany.

that is the point.
 
trouble13 said:
This is why criticism of Trump often gets dismissed. On one hand they complain that Trump didnt do enough ahead of time to be prepared for a pandemic but when he tries to attract labs here to help deal with future crises he gets criticized for that too.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

That isn't the point. The point is that he doesn't understand the concept of "do the right thing". If he would simply do the right thing, he wouldn't be criticized.

The right thing to do would be to negotiate with that company so that all concerned, and not just the US, would benefit.
 
Barnacle said:
[...]
Why are we paying a German company for pandemic research when we are not allowed to benefit from it?!?
Click to expand...

I'd say you got it wrong. You seem to be implying USA is footing the bill, and we have a contract for sole delivery to US for a vaccine. That's just not true, no where near it, in fact.

This from CureVac's website:

CEPI awards US$ 34M contract to CureVac to advance The RNA Printer™—a disruptive, transportable mRNA vaccine manufacturing platform that can rapidly combat multiple diseases | English

...CEPI [The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, who is partnering and funding CureVac 'RNA printer', which is behind this coronavirus vaccine ] has received multi-year funding from Norway, Germany, Japan, Canada, Australia, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Wellcome. CEPI has also received single-year investments from the Government of Belgium and the United Kingdom.
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So it's not some kind of USA "contract for product' quid pro quo like you are implying, not that at all. (And even if you not implying it, you missed the point which IS that is what Trump is trying to do, to get CureVac to give the vax to the US, exclusively, which is the entire point of the criticism of Trump in the OP ).

The funding is a global philanthropic effort, the fruits of which should obviously be for the good of mankind, NOT just USA.

Do your frickin' homework before you decide to stick your foot in your mouth.
 
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OscarLevant said:
I'd say you got it wrong. You seem to be implying USA is footing the bill, and we have a contract for sole delivery to US for a vaccine. That's just not true, no where near it, in fact.
This from CureVac's website:
So it' not some kind of USA "contract for product' quid pro quo like you are implying, not that at all.
The funding is a global philanthropic effort, the fruits of which should obviously be for the good of mankind, NOT just USA.
Do your frickin' homework before you decide to stick your foot in your mouth.
Click to expand...


I'm not implying anything, definitely not your BS quid pro quo ...

As is stated in my link, 10 years ago nobody wanted to fund research for that company ... except the US of A. The US were the only ones that funded that Germany company, when no one else had any faith in them.

You may now take your foot out of your mouth. :lol:
 
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