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Kariko had ironed out most of the kinks in the theory and practice of mRNA technology, but it took her decades, largely because nobody could see any prospect of immediate profit.

Now, much of the groundwork for mRNA had been laid previously by scientists like Kati Kariko, but this only emphasizes the importance of resources and concentration of effort. That gave private companies the resources and confidence to charge ahead with vaccine development. The basic structure of OWS had two parts: on the one hand, direct funding of studies and trials, and on the other, promises to purchase huge quantities of any vaccine that was successfully produced-what Silverman calls a “push” and “pull” combination. and around the world, that would be highly amenable to OWS-style efforts. As Rachel Silverman argues in a paper for the Center for Global Development, there are numerous other public-health challenges, both in the U.S. So it’s depressing that we aren’t dedicating similar resources to every other chronic health problem. And it was all accomplished with roughly 2 percent of this year’s military budget. Going from discovery of a totally novel virus to designing a highly effective new vaccine with hitherto unproven technology to finishing clinical trials and getting emergency approval in less than a year is one of the most remarkable scientific accomplishments in human history. The previous all-time speed record for vaccine development was about four years, and most of them took well over a decade. It’s worth emphasizing just how remarkable the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are. This turned out to be a smashing success. Over the long term, probably the most significant part of the CARES Act was a relatively tiny part of it-the $10 billion (or about 0.4 percent of the total, though this was later increased to $18 billion) that was allocated to Operation Warp Speed, which funded the development of the COVID-19 vaccines. If an ordinary GOP guy had been in the Oval instead of Trump, we might be in a massive economic depression right now. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) absolutely hated its generosity to the poor. The CARES Act was the most egalitarian economic policy in American history, and more ideologically conservative Republicans like Sen. If Donald Trump had one redeeming achievement as president, it was that he blithely welcomed the 2020 pandemic relief packages developed by House Democrats.

President Donald Trump speaks during an Operation Warp Speed Vaccine Summit in Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House, December 8, 2020, in Washington.