Security quote of the week

Security quote of the week

The COVID-19 vaccines received over $12B in public funds via Operation Warp Speed, significantly more than your $5B napkin figure.

BioNTech/Pfizer declined Operation Warp Speed funding. They did receive money from other public sources (e.g., in the case of BioNTech, the German government), but not to the same tune.

Having said that, the bulk of the research into mRNA vaccines was done long before Operation Warp Speed, or for that matter the COVID-19 pandemic, were even a thing. Most of the recent public money went into expediting clinical tests and regulatory approval and building out mass production capabilities, all of which are (a) quite expensive and (b) strongly in the public interest given the pandemic.

In any case, just to establish scale, $12B is approximately what it costs to build one Ford-class aircraft carrier. The US is planning to make ten of those. Just saying.