I once worked in a department which managed the marine vessel operations, for an offshore Oil & Gas Production Company.
Part of the function of my department, in conjunction with the company’s safety department, was to initiate policies and procedures, relative to maritime functions and to ensure compliance and verification of specifications, for vessels required for hire and use within the company’s operations.
Pretty much a similar exercise which the WHO does, relative to global matters on Health.
When a supplier provides a vessel for hire, specifications are submitted, such as Bollard Pull, Tank Capacities (Fuel, Water, Ballast etc.), Deck Space, Draught/Draft, Speed among others.
Some of these specs were easily verified by our department, such as speed, Deck Area etc, whereas, some were solely dependent on the information provided by the supplier and would not have been able to be accurately verified by our department such as a vessel’s Bollard Pull.
It was only during actual operations, some specifications were identified as being misrepresented by the supplier and sometimes they are not easily detected, such as Bollard Pull or Tank Capacities etc.
I say this to draw parallels with other regulatory entities such as the WHO, CDC, FAA, etc, and the possibility that there may have been overlooked specifications or adverse interactions, which we are now experiencing or still to be experienced.
But even more, to underscore that, coercion through nefarious means, in order to seek approval, remains a very reasonable probability, given the continuous close working relationship between supplier/manufacturer and the regulatory entity.
Having blind faith in these systems, is simply risking our general safety and ongoing evaluations should be the practice.
No alarms raised should be dismissed and perpetual vigilance is necessary.
Never rely on any single source of information.
Compare the evidence provided and seek validation of the information source.
Conduct compare and contrast analysis on information provided. Not because an entity is established, means that its information is always accurate.
A willingness to earnestly seek out accurate information, will yield accurate results.