Mike Osterholm

We should be doing this with our vaccines.

And the private sector is not going to pick this up because already, look what's happening once the mRNA fell out of favor with this administration.

Everybody, investment-wise, is getting out of it because they're fairly going to lose their shirts.

Who pays for manufacturing capacity that you don't keep warm, basically, day to day?

You got to keep it warm so when something happens, you can start up right away.

Again, that's got to be government.

And so to me, this is a challenge.

Our center, which some people know, has been the depository, you might say, for the vaccine roadmaps for both influenza and coronavirus.

We've been funded to keep track of that.

We can tell you at any moment what's being funded, where it's being funded by, et cetera.

And when you look at that, it's just a small amount of money compared to the cost of what we just went through.

And imagine if you could take that off the table.

This is where I think the good news comes in.

You can't prevent a pandemic.

Some people say you can't.

You can't.

Once a virus with wings takes off, it's gone.

But can you do a lot to limit it?

Actually, and that's the part that's possible.

So this is where it's not all lost, but we need to have leadership.