COVID-19 Vaccines: The Value of Investing in Public Goods and Public-Private Partnerships

In memory of my father, Dr. Miguel A. Marquez, a pathologist and public health man, who believed in the transformative power of both science and spirituality.

“By incorporating pseudouridine in the mRNA, we could keep it from causing an inflammatory reaction. It also translated into a great deal of proteins. I was absolutely elated. This was a paradigm-shifting discovery, one that could usher in a new era of medicines and vaccines.”

—Katalin Karikó, (co-Laurate, 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine), Breaking Through: My Life in Science, 2023.

Introduction

Growing up in Cuenca, a small city in southern Ecuador located between the Andean Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, my father inculcated in my siblings and me the belief that “Miracles don’t happen unless you prepare, persevere, and work for them to happen.”

This lesson from my formative years came to mind as I read Breaking Through: My Life in Science (2023), the autobiography of biochemist Katalin Karikó, the co-Laurate of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with Drew Weissman. As recounted in the book, Karikó persevered through decades of skepticism and professional setbacks, never abandoning her research on an “ephemeral and underappreciated” molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA), and how it interacts with the immune system. Their pioneering work enabled the rapid development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, widely hailed by many as a “scientific miracle”, that saved millions of lives and helped societies return to normalcy.

Complementing my earlier essay, An Autopsy of a Crisis: Five Years After COVID-19, here I focus on the role of immunity in controlling the pandemic, and on the value of investing in the development of public goods and in fostering robust public-private partnerships for mounting effective public health responses.

II. The Life-Saving Power of Vaccines and Vaccination

Overview of Traditional Vaccines

Vaccines and vaccinations have revolutionized global health, ranking among the most life-saving innovations in medical history. Vaccination stimulates the immune system to recognize and respond to a specific pathogen, giving the body a head start in fighting the disease upon future exposure.

History, however, shows that the development of vaccines has required years, decades, or even centuries of research and testing before being deployed. As summarized in an article by the World Economic Forum (WEF), early attempts to protect against smallpox—an often-deadly disease with a 30% fatality rate—began in 16th-century China through “variolation,” a method that involved introducing ground smallpox scabs into the body via the skin or nostrils. In 1721, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu introduced smallpox inoculation to Europe after observing the practice in Turkey, requesting it for her own children. Despite its spread, the method faced criticism due to its 2–3% mortality rate and potential to trigger new outbreaks.

A safer approach emerged in the late 18th century when English physician Edward Jenner found out that dairy workers who had contracted cowpox, a milder disease, seemed immune to smallpox. In 1796, Jenner tested his hypothesis by inoculating an eight-year-old boy with pus from cowpox lesions, later exposing him to smallpox without causing illness. After confirming this protective effect in additional cases, Jenner’s method—dubbed “vaccination” from the Latin vacca (cow)—marked the beginning of immunology and became the standard for smallpox prevention worldwide.

Nearly a century after Jenner's pioneering work, the French biologist Louis Pasteur advanced vaccine science in 1885 by successfully treating a nine-year-old boy bitten by a rabid dog with daily injections of a weakened rabies virus over 13 days—an approach he named the “rabies vaccine,” thereby broadening the definition of vaccines beyond smallpox. Pasteur’s global influence helped establish vaccines as treatments using live, weakened, or killed viruses to build immunity.

The first half of the 20th century saw rapid progress with vaccines developed for whooping cough (1914), diphtheria (1926), tetanus (1938), influenza (1945), and mumps (1948), aided by improved manufacturing techniques that enabled mass production. After a decade of work, Max Theiler, developed the first safe and effective yellow fever vaccine in 1937, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951.

From 1952–1955, the first effective polio vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk and trials begin. Salk tested the vaccine on himself and his family the following year, and mass trials involving over 1.3 million children took place in 1954. By 1960, a second type of polio vaccine, developed by Albert Sabin, was approved for use. Sabin’s vaccine was live-attenuated (using the virus in weakened form) and could be given orally, as drops or on a sugar cube.

The momentum continued with vaccines against measles (1963), rubella (1969), and global immunization campaigns drove vaccination rates upward. As noted in a previous essay, a major milestone was achieved in 1980 when smallpox was declared eradicated—marking a landmark public health triumph in the global fight against infectious diseases.

Traditional vaccines, such as those for polio, measles, and yellow fever, rely on weakened or inactivated viruses. Over time, advances in molecular biology have led to the development of vaccines using viral proteins or genetic material, such as hepatitis B and human papillomavirus vaccines. Other vaccines, like those for Ebola, use harmless carrier viruses (vectors) to deliver genetic instructions to our cells.

According to the World Health Organization, vaccines have saved more human lives than any other medical invention. Indeed, as reported in a The Lancet article, since 1974, vaccination programs have prevented approximately 154 million deaths, with 95% of these in children under five years old. Each averted death translated to an average of 66 years of full health, totaling 10.2 billion healthy years gained. Vaccination was estimated to have contributed to 40% of the global decline in infant mortality, and 52% in the African region. These results underscore the unparalleled impact of immunization in reducing mortality rates and enhancing public health worldwide

Development of mRNA Vaccines

The methods used for the development of traditional vaccines often require large-scale cell culture—an expensive and time-consuming process that limits rapid response during an epidemic or a pandemic.

In the 1980s, efforts to develop cell-free vaccine platforms were driven by advances in in vitro transcription reaction, which enabled the laboratory synthesis of mRNA for potential use in vaccines and therapies. The mRNA is a molecule that serves as a cellular messenger, carrying genetic instructions for protein production. Proteins are essential for nearly every aspect of a cell’s structure and function, driving the complex processes that sustain life—including immune responses that identify and neutralize foreign pathogens, playing a critical role in the body’s defense mechanisms.

Despite this promising innovation, early efforts faced significant setbacks: synthetic mRNA was unstable, difficult to deliver, and triggered harmful immune responses. Undeterred, biochemist Katalin Karikó pursued solutions and, in the early 1990s, partnered with immunologist Drew Weissman at the University of Pennsylvania. Their landmark 2005 study revealed that chemically modifying RNA bases—mimicking natural modifications found in mammalian cells—could significantly reduce inflammatory responses. Follow-up studies in 2008 and 2010 showed that these modifications also enhanced protein production by preventing the activation of an enzyme that normally suppresses it. Together, their discoveries overcame two major obstacles—immune activation and inefficient protein synthesis—paving the way for the clinical use of mRNA in vaccines and therapeutics.

When COVID-19 emerged, Karikó and Weissman’s work made it possible to quickly develop and deploy two effective mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. The mRNA vaccines work by delivering instructions to our cells to produce a harmless protein found on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, triggering an immune response without actual exposure to the virus. This prepares the immune system to recognize and fight the virus if the person is later infected, achieving protection rates of around 95%.

By December 2020, the earliest COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were mRNA vaccines.

The mRNA technology not only accelerated the COVID-19 vaccine response but has also opened doors to future applications, including vaccines for other infectious diseases, such as the Zika virus, therapeutic protein delivery, and cancer treatment.

Viral Vector Vaccines Expanded the Arsenal Against COVID-19

Besides the mRNA vaccines that use a synthetic version of coronavirus genetic material, several viral vector vaccines were also developed in 2020. These vaccines contain viruses engineered to carry coronavirus genes. Some viral vector vaccines enter cells and cause them to make viral proteins. Other viral vectors slowly replicate, carrying coronavirus proteins on their surface that stimulate the body's production of antibodies to confer immunity.

For example, the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford developed a vaccine based on a chimpanzee adenovirus (these are common viruses that cause a range of illness, such as cold-like symptoms, fever, sore throat, bronchitis, pneumonia, diarrhea, and conjunctivitis). Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute, part of Russia’s Ministry of Health, is a combination of two adenoviruses, Ad5 and Ad26, both engineered with a coronavirus gene. China’s Sinovac Biotech’s CoronaVac uses inactivated virus, which can help the body develop antibodies to the pathogen without risking infection.

The Role of Immunity in Controlling SARS-CoV-2 Transmission

Immunity played a pivotal role in controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. Both vaccine-induced immunity and infection-induced contributed to reducing transmission rates and mitigating disease severity.

Vaccine-Induced Immunity

Vaccination was instrumental in enhancing population immunity. By stimulating the immune system to recognize and combat SARS-CoV-2, vaccines significantly reduced the incidence of severe disease, hospitalizations, and deaths. The rapid development and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines was critical in curbing the pandemic's impact. The mRNA vaccines, Pfizer/BioNTech BNT162b2, and Moderna mRNA-1273, were central to the global pandemic control measures, providing strong protectiveness.

Given the need for a large share of the global population to be immune, the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines required an unprecedented effort in terms of scale and coverage. By October 2022, a year into the biggest vaccination campaign in history, more than 12.7 billion doses were administered across 184 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker.

Infection-Induced Immunity

While the most effective vaccines significantly reduced hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19—and vaccination is an essential service—the role of natural immunity conferred by prior infection in protecting against severe disease—cannot be dismissed. Individuals who recovered from COVID-19 often developed natural immunity, which decreased the risk of subsequent infections.

Studies have shown that prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 was associated with a reduced likelihood of reinfection. For instance, a systematic review published in The Lancet in 2023 reported that individuals with previous COVID-19 infection had an 88% lower risk of hospitalization or death for at least 10 months compared to those not previously infected. ​

In May 2023, Professor Marty Makary of Johns Hopkins University testified before the U.S. Congress Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, stating that "natural immunity works for nearly all other viruses" and citing over 200 studies indicating that natural immunity is at least as effective as vaccinated immunity. ​

However, it is important to note that while natural immunity provides protection, vaccination remains a safer and more predictable means of achieving immunity without the risks associated with contracting the disease.

Herd Immunity

Achieving herd immunity—where a significant portion of the population becomes immune, thereby reducing overall virus transmission—has been a public health goal. However, the emergence of new virus variants during the COVID-19 pandemic with increased transmissibility and potential immune escape capabilities hindered this objective.

For instance, as documented in a study, the Omicron variant's extensive mutations enabled it to evade neutralization by antibodies from prior infections and vaccinations. A study in Nature identified two distinct patterns in the protective effect of natural SARS-CoV-2 infection against reinfection in the pre-Omicron variant and Omicron variant periods. Before Omicron, natural infection offered strong, durable protection with minimal decline over time. In contrast, with the spread of the Omicron variant, protection was short-lived, waning significantly within a year.

These findings demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 immune protection was shaped by a dynamic interaction between host immunity and viral evolution, leading to contrasting reinfection patterns before and after Omicron’s first wave. This shift in patterns suggested a change in evolutionary pressures, with intrinsic transmissibility—-the inherent ability of a pathogen to spread from one individual to another in a fully susceptible population, without external factors like immunity or interventions influencing its transmission dynamics—driving adaptation pre-Omicron and immune escape becoming dominant post-Omicron.

This decline in immunity underscored the importance of ongoing surveillance and the need for periodic vaccine updates to sustain immunity.

Impact

In summary, immunity to the virus was essential for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccine-induced immunity, along with natural immunity, played a critical role in reducing COVID-19-related mortality and morbidity.

Based on official reported COVID-19 deaths, a study published in The Lancet estimated that vaccinations prevented 14.4 million deaths from COVID-19 in 185 countries and territories between Dec 8, 2020, and Dec 8, 2021. This estimate rose to 19.8 million deaths from COVID-19 averted when excess deaths were used as an estimate of the true extent of the pandemic, representing a global reduction of 63% in total deaths (19.8 million of 31.4 million) during the first year of COVID-19 vaccination.

While COVID-19 vaccination significantly altered the course of the pandemic, saving tens of millions of lives worldwide, limited access to vaccines in low-income countries constrained its impact in those regions.

III. Investing in Public Goods and Partnerships to Strengthen the COVID-19 Response

Operation Warp Speed (OWS)

As lucidly argued in a book by Professor William D. Nordhaus, a Nobel Prize–winning pioneer in environmental economics, humans are vulnerable—but not helpless—in the face of societal catastrophes.

In situations where the spread of a deadly virus, such as SARS-CoV-2 that cause the COVID-19 disease, is making people vulnerable to contagion and infection, governments have a central role to play in protecting public health. However, as I discussed in a previous essay, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that scientific expertise alone is insufficient to halt such crises—unless political leaders at the highest levels shape public opinion and implement appropriate policies.

Operation Warp Speed (OWS) in the United States offers an example of the bold and decisive actions that are required from governments to mitigate the health, social, and economic impacts of sudden and extreme shocks, or acute disturbances, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Launched in 2020, OWS was an interagency partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD), aimed at accelerating the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. The initiative involved close collaboration with private companies and key HHS agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

The Public Goods Nature of COVID-19 Vaccines

The unprecedented speed of COVID-19 vaccine development and deployment underscored the vital role of governments in advancing public goods during a global health crisis.

The leading vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were based on mRNA technology—a novel platform that had never before been approved for human use. However, the foundational scientific breakthroughs enabling this innovation were made decades earlier by Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman at the University of Pennsylvania, with support from the NIH. Their pioneering work, along with that of a broader network of NIH-funded researchers, highlights how sustained public investment in basic science and research can create public goods that underpin rapid, life-saving technological advancements.

Amid the most severe pandemic in a century, COVID-19 vaccines served as a public good, delivering widespread societal benefits. Provided at no cost to individuals and financed through public funds in the United States, the equitable distribution of vaccines reinforced the essential principle that access to health innovations should be universal—particularly in times of global crisis.

Role of OWS in Accelerating the Development and Deployment of COVID-19 Vaccines

To accelerate vaccine development, OWS provided substantial early subsidies to participating private companies, primarily for vaccine research and development. OWS also supported the expansion of manufacturing capacity for select vaccine candidates while they were still undergoing clinical trials—an “at-risk” investment strategy in which the federal government funded the development and production of vaccine candidates before confirming their safety and efficacy.

By March 1, 2021, several vaccine candidates received federal support through contracts for both development and dose procurement. These included:

• Moderna: $954 million for development and $4.94 billion for 300 million doses

• Janssen Pharmaceuticals: $456 million for development

• Sanofi/GSK: $30.8 million for development and $2.04 billion for 100 million doses

• Merck/IAVI: $38 million for development

Other companies received federal support solely through advance purchase agreements:

• Pfizer/BioNTech: $5.97 billion for 300 million doses

• AstraZeneca/Oxford: $1.2 billion for 300 million doses

• Johnson & Johnson: $1 billion for 100 million doses

• Novavax: $1.6 billion for 100 million doses

By the end of January 2021—within 12 months of the initiative’s launch—five of the six OWS-backed candidates had entered Phase 3 clinical trials. Two—Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna—received emergency use authorizations (EUAs) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 11 and December 18, 2020, respectively. Because OWS had purchased these vaccines in advance, all doses were federally owned and distributed at no cost to the U.S. population.

OWS played a critical role in what has been described as a “scientific miracle,” enabling the United States to outpace other nations in early vaccine production. As noted by Chad P. Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in testimony before the European Parliament, by the end of February 2021, U.S. facilities had delivered 103 million doses, compared to 40 million by India and 27 million by the EU. By the end of March, the U.S. had supplied nearly 200 million doses—outpacing both India (117 million) and the EU (140 million). Although the EU and India eventually produced more vaccines overall by the end of 2021, the U.S. led in early dose availability.

Lessons from the OWS experience

First, as documented by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), one of OWS’ strategic strengths was its emphasis on product diversification. By selecting vaccine candidates that utilized different methods to stimulate an immune response, OWS increased the likelihood of success in the face of scientific uncertainty.

In a testimony to the European Parliament, Chad P. Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) highlighted the significance of this approach: of the seven vaccine candidates funded by the U.S. government in early 2020, only three—Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson—ultimately made it through clinical trials and succeeded. Brown also observed that product diversification also mattered when there were subsequent and highly publicized manufacturing problems for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at its main production facility in the United States.

Second, OWS employed innovative incentive structures to accelerate vaccine delivery. According to Bown’s testimony, contracts included additional payments for early delivery of doses. For example, Moderna received an extra $3.00 per dose for meeting an emergency use authorization deadline of January 31, 2021. These financial incentives helped motivate companies to expedite their production and distribution timelines.

Third, the GAO study underscores how the public-private partnership model under OWS effectively addressed technical and manufacturing challenges, enabling rapid development and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines. The partnership fostered proactive, flexible responses that helped advance vaccine candidates through the development pipeline more efficiently.

Fourth, the GAO's key findings in two critical areas—technology readiness and manufacturing preparedness—offer valuable lessons for future crisis responses:

Accelerating Technology Readiness

Originally developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the 1970s for space exploration technologies, technology readiness level (TRL) measures the maturity level of a technology throughout its research, development, and deployment phase progression. Under OWS, early and guaranteed government funding allowed pharmaceutical companies to assume vaccine-specific investment risks with confidence. Effectively, the financial risk of a failed Phase 3 trial was transferred from the private sector to the government.

While the development of COVID-19 vaccines under OWS followed traditional scientific and regulatory practices, timelines were significantly compressed. The FDA issued specific guidance to facilitate accelerated development during the pandemic. Vaccine developers were able to leverage data from existing platforms, when available, and in some cases conducted animal studies in parallel with early-phase human trials.

Despite the accelerated timelines, all vaccine developers adhered to core safety protocols: they collected initial safety and immunogenicity data from a small group of participants before progressing to large-scale Phase 3 trials. The two EUAs issued in December 2020—for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines—were based on robust analyses showing approximately 95% efficacy. These authorizations were supported by safety data collected over at least two months of monitoring for adverse events following the second dose.

Overcoming Manufacturing Obstacles

As of January 31, 2021, companies contracted under OWS had released 63.7 million doses—about 32 percent of the 200 million doses they were expected to provide by March 31, 2021, under EUAs. Vaccine manufacturers encountered several challenges in scaling up production to meet OWS’s accelerated timelines. In response, the DOD and the HHS collaborated with companies to address key manufacturing barriers, including:

Limited Manufacturing Capacity. A shortage of facilities capable of meeting large-scale vaccine production created potential bottlenecks. To address this, vaccine manufacturers partnered with OWS to expand capacity. For instance, HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) assisted one facility in identifying an additional manufacturing partner to boost production. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also oversaw construction projects aimed at expanding manufacturing infrastructure.

Supply Chain Disruptions. Global demand and pandemic-related workforce challenges strained vaccine manufacturing supply chains. One facility, for example, faced delays in securing essential materials such as reagents and chemicals—items that once arrived within a week were now taking 4 to 12 weeks. To mitigate these disruptions, DOD and HHS coordinated efforts that included:

• Expediting procurement and delivery of critical manufacturing equipment.

• Creating a list of essential supplies common across OWS vaccine candidates.

• Accelerating the import of necessary equipment and materials.

Additionally, by December 2020, DOD and HHS applied prioritized ratings to 18 supply contracts under the Defense Production Act, requiring suppliers to prioritize vaccine-related orders.

Workforce Shortages. Recruiting and training personnel with specialized skills to operate vaccine manufacturing processes posed another challenge. To help fill critical roles, OWS coordinated with the Department of State to fast-track visa approvals for technical experts, such as engineers and technicians, needed to install and certify equipment sourced overseas. In the interim, OWS also detailed DOD personnel to serve as quality control staff at two manufacturing sites until permanent hires could be made.

Vaccines are necessary but not sufficient; vaccination is equally important

While the role of OWS in the development of new vaccines was important, equally important was the effort of the U.S. Government to administer shots in the arms of an anxious and often agnostic population.

Indeed, as argued in a study in Health Affairs, when it comes to cutting down on COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, a well-coordinated and timely deployment of vaccines mattered just as much as their efficacy. So, preparation for the massive deployment of the vaccines and their administration was another “public good” role played by the U.S. Government.

COVID-19 vaccination required unprecedented, scaled-up efforts to be mounted in health systems across the world to support the administration of vaccines, requiring the strengthening of key core activity areas, from planning and management, supply and distribution, and program delivery to systems and infrastructure, including the establishment of mass vaccination sites.

The rollout of the vaccination program also required building public confidence through public education campaigns, community mobilization and involvement, and on-the-ground, grassroots outreach efforts. Additionally, the reality of isolated adverse effects in some recipients of COVID-19 vaccines could not be ignored and needed to be addressed to reduce public hesitancy and mistrust.

Vaccines, as other medicines, are indispensable for preventing infections, treating diseases, or reliving pain. But there are risks of unwanted or unexpected events that can happen from harmful interactions between a vaccine and food, beverage, or another medicine, or that the vaccine may not work as expected and can cause additional problems. The occurrence of these adverse events post-vaccination highlighted the importance of pharmacovigilance, or the monitoring of the safety in the use of vaccines, as an essential public health service. Continuous monitoring was required for managing the benefits and risks of vaccines as part of the rollout of the vaccination program. Pharmacovigilance activities also supported the delivery of effective information, education, and communication by government officials, service providers, and pharmaceutical firms to the public. As shown during the pandemic, these activities were vital to address disinformation that hampered public health efforts, concerns and fears among the public about adverse effects of medicines, and ultimately, to save lives.

Additionally, the role played by the US federal government via the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal and state agencies, supported COVID-19 vaccination sites by providing expedited financial assistance, providing federal equipment and supplies, and deploying federal personnel to states, tribes, territories, and other eligible applicants for vaccination efforts in accordance with the White House National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan.

IV. No Country Is an Island in a Pandemic: The Imperative of Collaboration and Solidarity

During the COVID-19 pandemic, countries such as the United States and members of the European Union had early access to ample vaccine supplies. However, a major global challenge—particularly evident in 2021—was the stark inequity in accessing, deploying, and administering vaccines. This disparity left the poorest regions behind, along with vulnerable population groups within both high- and low-income countries.

This glaring inequity was a highly visible and deeply concerning issue during the pandemic—one that demands sustained global action to prevent its recurrence. A key priority going forward is to ensure continued support for scaling up vaccine manufacturing and supply, especially amid growing fiscal constraints and a shifting approach to international assistance by wealthier nations.

Expanding global manufacturing capacity can help prevent the supply shortages experienced during COVID-19, which disproportionately affected lower-income countries. Enabling more countries to produce vaccines and essential medicines is a critical step toward building a more resilient and secure global health landscape—provided that domestic production capacity is established and access to raw materials and related supplies is not impeded by trade disruptions or geopolitical conflicts.

Beyond ensuring equitable access to vaccines and medical supplies, expanding vaccination coverage also depends on the capacity and capabilities of well-structured, well-resourced, and adequately funded health systems that can deliver universal coverage. Yet, most countries remain far from meeting their commitments in this critical area. Developing strong, resilient health systems remains an urgent—yet lagging—priority, both as a global public health necessity and a security imperative.

The human and economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has been immense, erasing decades of social progress in many regions. It is a stark reminder that no country is safe until all countries are safe.

V. Takeaways

Typically, the development of new vaccines takes years—or even decades—of research, testing, and regulatory approval before deployment. In the case of the COVID-19 vaccines, however, scientists raced to develop a safe and effective product in record time. In a historic achievement, clinical trials for some vaccines were completed in less than a year. The development of mRNA vaccines, in particular, was significantly accelerated by building on existing research platforms and established processes.

As evidenced by OWS in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic—and by prior government investments that enabled scientific breakthroughs in mRNA vaccine technology—the role of governments in the development of public goods and fostering and coordinating public-private partnerships is critical. This “public goods” function was essential not only for the development of COVID-19 vaccines but also for their deployment and large-scale vaccination rollout.

Extrapolating from the U.S. experience, a key lesson for the future is that national governments—through regulation and taxation—can mobilize resources to provide public goods at the country level, thereby maximizing the societal benefits of public health actions and investments in pandemic preparedness and response capacities.

Similarly, when it comes to global public goods—those whose benefits extend to all people and for which it is not feasible to exclude non-payers, such as vaccines, medicines, and therapies to prevent and control infectious disease threats—a strong public sector push is needed. Without it, these goods are unlikely to be adequately financed or made widely accessible.

At the international level, organizations such as the World Bank Group have well-established mechanisms in place to collect and manage contributions from member countries in support of global public goods in health. Examples include:

• The Pandemic Fund, created to provide a dedicated stream of additional, long-term financing to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capabilities—particularly by addressing critical gaps in low- and middle-income countries through investments and technical support at national, regional, and global levels.

• The Global Financing Facility (GFF), a country-led global partnership housed at the World Bank Group, focused on ensuring that all women, children, and adolescents can survive and thrive.

• The International Development Association (IDA), which provides interest-free loans (credits) and grants to the world’s poorest countries to support development efforts across various sectors.

VI. Conclusion

The rapid development and global deployment of multiple COVID-19 vaccines—an achievement that contributed to vanquishing the pandemic, saving lives and accelerating the reopening of economies worldwide—stands as a landmark effort in public health history. It underscores that government financial support is essential to advancing scientific knowledge and innovation as public goods that improve people’s lives, especially when private sector efforts alone are not sufficient or appropriate. This unprecedented global public health achievement, enabled by decades of government-funded research, and innovative public-private partnerships—such as the Operation Warp Speed initiative in the United States—provides a model that could be adapted for tackling other complex health and social challenges.

It also affirms, as noted in an International Monetary Fund (IMF) analysis, that research and development are essential for social progress, and cross-border collaboration plays a key role in driving the innovation needed for sustained economic growth. Scientific breakthroughs, often rooted in publicly funded laboratories and shared in the public domain, create powerful spillover effects that drive innovation, enhance public health, and fuel inclusive economic growth. Indeed, as Vannevar Bush observed in a National Science Foundation report, science “creates the fund from which the practical applications of knowledge must be drawn.”

The returns on public R&D investment are both clear and compelling—each dollar yields multiples in societal and economic benefits. Indeed, as suggested by conservative estimates in a paper by Benjamin F. Jones and Lawrence H. Summers, $1 invested in R&D returns at least $5 on average; adding in other benefits — such as health gains — can raise these social returns higher, to $10 of benefit per $1 spent, or more.

Sustaining and ensuring the advancement of scientific knowledge and the pursuit of innovations is essential to reversing productivity slowdowns, accelerating innovation, and addressing unmet social needs in the post-pandemic era. This is especially true when pursued through global cooperation, collaboration, and solidarity.

As we look to the future and confront the many crises of our time, let us recall the words of Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, who recently stated ahead of the 2025 Spring Meetings: “Development is not just about reducing suffering; it’s about unlocking this vast untapped promise.”

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