Unregulated spread by individuals is a solution, just not the one I think would be implemented if such a strain were found.
I think it much more likely that the regulatory agency would quickly approve the use of the strain on the basis of the epidemiological data gathered in the process of finding it.
> I think it much more likely that the regulatory agency would quickly approve the use of the strain on the basis of the epidemiological data gathered in the process of finding it.
Have you had experience with dealing with said regulatory agencies?
Unfortunately yes and they normally move at a glacial pace and demand 100% certainty about everything. I do have faith that they are capable of moving faster when the need is as urgent as the need right now.
Daniel, can you please elaborate on this: "Unregulated spread by individuals is a solution" ? How do you envision it ? Virus is not an open source software, you cannot just "make your own copy" without a physical contact. :)
It is ‘a’ solution, but in my opinion not a good one. There are a number of ways this could happen, the easiest is just to send people to the area where it was first found and look for people infected. It is technically very easy to test any sample to make sure it is the right strain.
Even if you can’t get the strain it would not be technically very complex to recreate the virus from scratch once you know what deletion you need.
I think it much more likely that the regulatory agency would quickly approve the use of the strain on the basis of the epidemiological data gathered in the process of finding it.