If there’s one thing we should all be able to agree on it’s that the potential impact of the coronavirus is too important to politicize. That doesn’t mean our political leaders should remain silent, it simply means they should be constructive -- if they deem criticism necessary -- and otherwise supportive. Presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders’ statement Wednesday is a perfect example of what politicians should not be doing.

After repeating his version of the Democrats’ “inadequate and incompetent response” soundbite, Sanders proceeded to claim that “under the Trump doctrine, if you are wealthy you can buy a vaccine and not succumb to the sickness. If you are poor or working class, you have to get sick or even die.” Even for a socialist promoting Medicare-for-all, it was an absurd claim.

Sanders based his claim on Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar’s statement that the administration would work to “ensure” that a coronavirus vaccine is “affordable,” but that it “can't control that price because we need the private sector to invest. Price controls won't get us there.” Azar’s statement was accurate but certainly did not mean that those who are “poor or working-class” will lack access to a vaccine.

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While President Trump has requested $2.5 billion to fight the coronavirus, Congress will clearly authorize far more funding, likely between $4 billion and $8.5 billion. In a joint statement released Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., specifically noted that any funding measure must ensure that “[v]accines are affordable and available to all that need it.”

There is no doubt that President Trump will happily accept additional funding and use whatever is required to assure that, regardless of the vaccine’s ultimate cost, it will be available to everyone, particularly those who are “poor and working-class”. For humanitarian reasons alone, there is no acceptable alternative.

Of course, developing, testing, producing and distributing an effective vaccine will be a difficult and uncertain process. The ultimate vaccine may be expensive. But, at this point, our main focus should be on developing an effective vaccine as quickly as possible to prevent or alleviate a worldwide pandemic regardless of the vaccine’s ultimate cost. While government has an important role in the process, we are primarily looking to the innovative energy of private sector companies to get that job done.

In fact, Moderna Inc., a small Cambridge, Massachusetts based biotech company is in the lead for developing a potential coronavirus vaccine. A mere 42 days after China released the coronavirus DNA sequence, Moderna shipped the first batches of its experimental coronavirus vaccine to the National Institutes of Health, which plans to begin testing on humans by April.

Moderna is a 10-year-old publicly-traded company listed on the NASDAQ exchange. Moderna exists because of its investors who expect Moderna to make a profit. There are surely employees at Moderna who work tirelessly to find cures for our most serious diseases for altruistic reasons. But, they have jobs enabling them to do so because of those investors.

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In fact, Modern’s stock spiked 16 percent on its announcement of the potential vaccine’s shipment. That’s a good thing. We want the private sector incentivized to take risks, to innovate, to produce results like Moderna’s amazingly rapid progress in developing a coronavirus vaccine.

Like any company, Moderna has to invest its capital so as to cover the costs of researching, developing, producing and distributing its products. That’s the investment Secretary Azur was talking about, and that’s why he’s right to believe that if we want an effective vaccine as expeditiously as possible, price controls clearly won’t get us there. Whatever Moderna has to invest to get a vaccine it must be able to recover that investment and make a reasonable profit. Otherwise, companies like Moderna won’t exist. The government -- where Sanders has spent the bulk of his career -- can lose money and continue to operate because it can raise taxes or borrow on the nation’s credit. Companies like Moderna can’t do that; if they don’t make a profit, they don’t exist.

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Secretary Azar subsequently made clear that the Administration will ensure the coronavirus vaccine -- when it is tested and manufactured -- will be available to everyone who needs it. Of course, it will, and at little or no cost to those otherwise unable to afford it.

But first, we have to get this vital countermeasure. It won’t come solely from the government. We must count on the tremendous ingenuity and energy of America’s free enterprise system. Sanders doesn’t understand that and never will, but fortunately, the key decisions are being made by leaders who would rather protect the health and safety of the American people than punish the private sector.

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