A Chinese Vaccine Could Save American Lives

Critics of President Donald Trump’s trade war with China stress that it has led to higher consumer prices, costly bailouts for American farmers and mutual hard feelings. All these points are right as far as they go, but they don’t go far enough. The biggest cost of the trade war — measured in lives lost, lingering business uncertainty and a longer economic downturn — is the lack of cooperation between the U.S. and China on vaccines and other biomedical advances.

Consider the U.S. position. Since it’s impossible to know which vaccines for Covid-19 will be safest and most effective until the clinical trials are further along and other studies have been made, the federal government has made advance purchases of seven vaccines. By pre-purchasing a portfolio of vaccines, the U.S. can ensure that when the time comes to ramp up production, the companies will be ready.