“COPIUM” IS THE most useful recent addition to the political lexicon. The portmanteau of “cope” and “opium” is a metaphorical opiate that dulls the pain of defeat, according to Urban Dictionary, a useful guide to slang. In Europe a slow vaccine roll-out across the EU has left its leaders huffing gallons of the stuff. So far the EU, a club of mostly small rich countries, has vaccinated 1.4% of its population. By contrast Israel, a small rich country, has vaccinated a third of its population. Even Britain, whose health service is a punchline on the continent, has jabbed 7%. With nearly 5% of people vaccinated America, the uncaring antithesis to the EU’s self-image, has done better than anyone in the bloc.

The copium comes in many forms. According to one ingenious argument, the EU vaccination scheme is not any slower than other rich Western countries, it simply set off later. Others suggest that regulators in the likes of Israel, America and Britain played loose with safety standards. The most pernicious argument, however, is that rolling out the vaccine is not a competition at all.

it is a hot opportunity that should help the pharma companies and politicians to get rich fast, and let the public get back to the good old normal. So let it be, weather it really works or just works psychosomatically.