On September 19, 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO): “Modernizing Influenza Vaccines in the United States to Promote National Security and Public Health” and Fauci stated that “[t]hese platform technologies include DNA, messenger RNA (mRNA), virus-like particles, vector-based, and self-assembling nanoparticle vaccines.” [1]
This follows a September 2019 White House Council of Economic Advisers report titled, “Mitigating the Impact of Pandemic Influenza through Vaccine Innovation“. The report effectivly concluded that “it’s not “if” there’s another pandemic; it’s “when” there’s another pandemic.” According to the study summary “a future pandemic would likely incur costs ranging from $413 billion to $3.79 trillion and claim the lives of about half a million people in the United States alone”
Technology platforms that would allow for a more rapid and flexible response to both seasonal and pandemic influenza than do existing vaccine production strategies.
Investing for the “next” pandemic’s preparedness is what Bill Gates had been pushing since around 2015. Gates’ said the National Security Council is the apporpriate office to “show leadership on this issue and decide how to coordinate the various groups” within the government.” – the NSA took the lead in 2020, not the department of health.
Any vaccine developed in US will likely make it to Australia as the TGA works closely with international regulators like the FDA and CDC.