Global Health

commentary

America Can Still Deliver on Global Vaccine Diplomacy

It is hard to see how science alone can end the pandemic without the rallying power of global diplomacy. The United States has played a leadership role in previous outbreaks, such as Ebola. It could play a similar role now to help consign the current pandemic to epidemic status.

Krishna B. Kumar @kbkumar_

blog

U.S. 'Entanglement,' Global Health Cooperation, Community Stress: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on competing claims about U.S. partnerships and allies, responding to Russia's tactics in Ukraine, helping communities recover from stress, and more.

commentary

Global Health Data Sharing: The Case of China and the Two Coronavirus Pandemics

Tensions over the coronavirus seem to be prompting China to isolate itself in terms of data sharing. But the first coronavirus pandemic in 2003 actually helped open China to health collaborations with other countries. World leaders may be doing their citizens a disservice when they allow toxic geopolitics to undercut trust and international collaborations that took decades to build.

Jennifer Bouey @BoueyHuang

commentary

Split-Screen Recovery from Pandemic Isn't Sustainable

In a world connected by commerce and the air we breathe, it's hard to see how any COVID-19 recovery that's confined to specific segments of the population is sustainable. Failing to address gaps in the pandemic response would run the risk that a future mutation of this virus could send us scurrying for cover. Again.

Krishna B. Kumar @kbkumar_

blog

Vaccine Hesitancy, Working from Home, Arctic Diplomacy: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on vaccine hesitancy as a symptom of ‘Truth Decay,’ how to make remote work beneficial for all, U.S. Arctic diplomacy, and more.

commentary

Vaccine Patents Debate Risks Becoming a Sideshow in the Global Battle Against COVID-19

As COVID-19 cases continue to surge around the world, the debate is raging over whether patents on existing vaccines should be waived. But the global community could view patent waivers as just one of many available tools for speeding up vaccine delivery worldwide.

Krishna B. Kumar @kbkumar_

commentary

America Could Do More to Get the World Vaccinated

After waging its own withering battle with COVID-19, the United States appears to be coming to grips with the pandemic and its economy is recovering. Now could be the time for America to play a greater role in global vaccination, both out of generosity and self-interest.

Krishna B. Kumar @kbkumar_

blog

President Biden's First Address to Congress: Insights from RAND

President Joe Biden addressed a joint session of Congress, summarizing his administration's early COVID-19 response and outlining plans that aim to loosen the pandemic's year-long grip on a weary nation. The speech reflected the fact that the United States faces policy challenges across a wide range of domains.

commentary

Equal, Rapid Access to Vaccines Is More Important Than Ever as New COVID-19 Variants Emerge

Vaccine nationalism could prolong the pandemic and lead to preventable deaths. If some countries don't receive timely access to vaccines, then the virus will continue to spread in some populations, mutate further, and potentially render existing vaccines less effective.

Marco Hafner, Christian Van Stolk

commentary

Vaccine Nationalism May Seem Inevitable, but There Are Real Economic Consequences

Vaccine nationalism, in which countries prioritize their domestic needs at the expense of others, will have significant global economic consequences. Major economies actually have more to gain by helping to make an effective COVID-19 vaccine widely available globally.

Marco Hafner

commentary

What Elinor Ostrom Teaches Us About Avoiding the 'Tragedy of the Commons' in Delivering the Public Interest in the Post COVID-19 World

The public interest can be an elusive concept, especially when trying to distinguish between shared and individual interests, a problem brought into sharper focus as we try to find the right path to a post COVID-19 world. Governments are seeking to do the best for their societies with limited information. As more data is being acquired, how can public policy achieve common interest?

Tom Ling

commentary

Needed: A Blueprint for a Post-Vaccine World

When a COVID-19 vaccine is developed, many in rich countries may be able to afford it while the poor and uninsured may not. The time to plan for equitable access, financing, intellectual property rights, and global production is now.

Krishna B. Kumar @kbkumar_, Mahshid Abir, et al.

q&a

Coronavirus Outbreak Intensifies: Q&A with RAND Experts

Cases of the coronavirus have now spread to several dozens of countries, infecting thousands and thousands of people across the globe. With concerns about the disease rising, we asked a group of RAND researchers to answer a wide range of questions about the crisis.

commentary

Is Coronavirus Another SARS?

In 2002, the SARS pandemic infected more than 8,000 people and killed 774. How is the coronavirus outbreak similar? And how is it different?

Jennifer Bouey @BoueyHuang

blog

Artificial Intelligence, Refugees, Global Health Security: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the Pentagon's artificial intelligence strategy, technology's role in the refugee crisis, threats to global health security, and more.