Vivek Murthy

It turns out that we have a major technology gap that we have to fill at a very, very basic level.

And this is our chance to lean into that, to do it well so that we can serve our communities now and also in the future.

One thing that this pandemic and other outbreaks have made clear is that the partnership between the government and the private sector is essential, and it's essential on several levels.

One is when it comes to communicating information about what people need to do to protect themselves and their families.

That information needs to be echoed.

by companies, by universities and schools, by local leaders.

And the stronger the partnerships are with government to communicate and share information openly, including around messaging, the more effective the dissemination of information can be.

The other place where I think these partnerships are going to be really essential is on the supply portion of the response effort.

Like we know if we look at testing and personal protective equipment is just one example in this pandemic.

That in order to do that well, what the government really needs is to partner with manufacturers.

It needs to partner with distribution entities that can actually help get the materials to where they need, help it better assess need and set up ways to gather feedback from the field to know whether we're actually getting the materials and tools to the right places.

And the truth is that you don't build partnerships overnight.

And if you wait till the pandemic is there to build those relationships, it's usually not nearly as effective as if you start building ahead of time.

So this is a place where we have to imagine the next pandemic and think, what partnerships can we build to produce the materials and distribute the materials we know are inevitably going to become necessary?

The final part I'll say is about supporting people.

COVID-19, I think more than

almost any other natural disaster that we have faced in our lifetimes has created such a profound economic need and inflicted such deep economic pain on such a large number of people across the world.

And in these moments,

All of us have to step up to support people in need.

The government can't cut enough checks to resolve and alleviate all the pain that people are feeling right now.