I see two problems with this approach, both political / social:
- No one will want to be the one "deploying" the attenuated strain in a human and then be responsible for some unforeseen death (even if it's just 1 in a billion). Utilitarianism is not widespread nor socially accepted. Even less so in politicians, who are quite risk averse.
- There is no lobby supporting it. There's no $$ to be made and the "vaccine" is basically free.
No one will want to be the one "deploying" the attenuated strain in a human and then be responsible for some unforeseen death (even if it's just 1 in a billion). Utilitarianism is not widespread nor socially accepted. Even less so in politicians, who are quite risk averse.
I would give them more credit, especially in a situation where the status quo includes so many deaths. I was impressed with how readily most states licensed self-driving vehicles, knowing that there would certainly be deaths. Their rationality here likely came from seeing tens of thousands of people dying on the roads each year.
Lets solve this issues once we find the right attenuated strain. Personally I think these sort of social problems will be overcome once we compare with the alternative of sitting around waiting for a vaccine.
- No one will want to be the one "deploying" the attenuated strain in a human and then be responsible for some unforeseen death (even if it's just 1 in a billion). Utilitarianism is not widespread nor socially accepted. Even less so in politicians, who are quite risk averse.
- There is no lobby supporting it. There's no $$ to be made and the "vaccine" is basically free.