DEREK LOWE ON THE RUSSIANS’ CLAIMED CORONAVIRUS VACCINE. “If it’s supposed to make Russia look like some sort of biotechnology powerhouse, then as far as I’m concerned it does the opposite. It makes them look desperate, like the nation-state equivalent of a bunch of penny-stock promoters. . . . Look, we’re pushing safety and efficacy trials harder than they’ve ever been pushed already, and many people already are jumpy about the safety evaluations of the various vaccine candidates as it is. Declaring regulatory approval and taking a public victory lap in the world press before you’ve even done that safety work at all inspires pity rather than respect.”