Irene

Jeff Bezos started Amazon with his wife MacKenzie. Anita Roddick and Gordon Roddick started The Body Shop.

Yes, there could be many different scenarios; when vaccine supply is limited, vaccinate those at risk of death. BioNTech claims their vaccine efficacy is consistent across age groups, but we won't know for sure until large clinical trials are completed. Also, older people are less willing to be vaccinated earlier. More variables to include in the model...

Pfizer selected New Mexico, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Texas for their pilot delivery program "due to the states' immunization infrastructures, urban and rural variations, size and population diversity". First batches of vaccine will probably go to frontline medical workers first, followed by frail old people. a paper in Medrxiv favored "older first" model based on evolutionary game theory and mobility data, for largest decrease in mortality rates.

Community medicine; precision medicine - all self-funded.

Connectivity-driven innovation is cheaper. Science is becoming harder and is getting less bang for its buck. We saw great progress in AI over the past few years but even this has taken far more effort and money than building social networks. Perhaps connectivity-driven innovation could help to speed up applied science innovation if power of the crowd is more efficiently utilized?

Most (if not all) new medicines came out of basic research supported by the NIH. This research was tweaked and patented by companies who profit from selling the drugs. Is start-to-finish government drug pipeline a better solution? Perhaps, but current academic culture doesn't support it. It's not just about pouring more taxpayer money.

You are right, according to medical journal "The Lancet", 85% of (government-funded) research funding is “avoidably wasted across the entire biomedical research range (e.g., clinical, health services, and basic science)” Government-funded medical R&D (budget for the NIH: $34.4 billion for 2019) needs smarter spending.

My grandmother was denied drugs by government-run healthcare and died in severe pain.

Mind uploading predictions are fascinating (Edmond Hamilton, 1936; Isaac Asimov, 1956, 1957; Arthur C. Clarke, 1956; Bertil Mårtensson, 1968).

Also predictions about automating boring and mundane human tasks:

Waldemar Kaempffert, 1950: "When Jane Dobson cleans house she simply turns the hose on everything... After the water has run down a drain in the middle of the floor (later concealed by a rug of synthetic fiber) Jane turns on a blast of hot air and dries everything."

"With the advent of frozen foods in the shape of bricks, cooking as an art is only a memory in the minds of old-people. A few die-hards still broil a chicken or roast a leg of lamb, but <by using ingredients in frozen bricks> Jane Dobson can serve a steak in less than three minutes, and an elaborate multi-course meal never takes more than half an hour to prepare.

"discarded linens and underwear are recycled and turned into candy."

Isaac Asimov, 1964: "Gadgetry will continue to relieve mankind of tedious jobs. Kitchen units will be devised that will prepare 'automeals,' heating water and converting it to coffee; toasting bread; frying, poaching or scrambling eggs, grilling bacon, and so on."

It should be possible, but might take a lot of effort. Smell-detecting dogs are trained from birth to 18 months and it takes another 6 months to specialize them on specific scent like diabetes. Small rodents could be trained too. In Harry Potter, Ron carried one in his breast pocket.

Thank you, these are great suggestions.