Some people, when confronted with a problem, think "I know, I'll use the federal government." Now they have two problems.
- President Ronald Reagan[1], 1986
Sometimes it is appropriate to invest vast sums of public funds into unproven technologies and ideas. The pandemic seems to be a textbook example of where we can reasonably expect our federal government to act swiftly and decisively, for the greater good.
That does not mean we should simply shrug our shoulders when, in hindsight, it becomes obvious a lot of misfeasance occurred during this unprecedented time. Billions of dollars were thrown around everywhere with very little oversight. It may be decades before we fully understand where all the money went, and most would likely be shocked to discover pandemic-fighting funds were used to prop up pet projects and ideological programs instead. Funds pitched to the public as destined to fight the pandemic were instead used for anything but - and collectively, red or blue, we are all suffering the consequences of those poor, often obfuscated decisions.
We should scrutinize the relationships these farma companies had with the federal government before, during and after the pandemic. They mostly received a blank check for the government to "solve" the pandemic, and it's debatable if that is what really unfolded.
[1] https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/presidents-new...
I, for one would, not be shocked.
On the other hand, I would be shocked if we grew a collective spine and did something about it.
…like paying for all the vaccines ahead of time, without any guarantee they worked, and the decades of government-sponsored research that made them possible in the first place? The drug companies were not in anyway “heroes,” but net beneficiaries of the enclosure of public research, which, combined with decades of bribing politicians to prevent state manufacturing capacity and enforce bogus IP restrictions, has resulted in wildly inequitable global vaccine access and countless, unnecessary deaths across the world.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/jun-12-missions-to-venus-lea...
The whole world can thank the Trump administration and Operation Warp Speed [0].
It provided billions of dollars and firm orders for any manufacturer who could get it's vaccine candidate on the market. All paid for by the American tax payer, of course. To fight a disease that most likely originated in a Chinese lab.
Without it it would have been months of additional delay for R&D and production (see the vaccines not selected for Warp Speed or the CanSino program in Canada[1])
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Warp_Speed
[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/cansino-deal-canada-nrc-fifth...