The government doesn't require a profit before working on a vaccine. The article clearly states that private companies will not work on new vaccines unless there's profits to be made.
That doesn't sound very hard to me. Hire people who have the skills necessary, pay them a fair wage (lower probably than they'll make in a corporation, but they'll be working for the people rather than a robber-baron), and let them make vaccines. Aside from the cost, is it really that difficult to do this? We've spent much more on war.