A half year into a pandemic that’s killed almost 600,000 people, the international race for protection from the virus escalated to a treacherous new level with allegations that vaccine development has become a target of Russian cyberattacks.
Vaccine nationalism is already a concern as countries jockey to secure doses of future shots, desperate for a way out of a global crisis that’s slammed their economies.
Science and money have been the main drivers so far, with the U.S. spending billions of dollars on deals for experimental shots and other countries trying to keep up. Government reports that Russian intelligence hacked international research centers developing inoculations against COVID-19 add a plot line reminiscent of Cold War spy thrillers.