Interesting roundup from Kottke about the reasons why the Covid–19 vaccines were developed so quickly.

For example:

4. International & corporate collaboration. Countries and companies shared research, data, and resources because the primary goal was to develop effective vaccines and save lives, not make a profit. For instance, Chinese researchers posted the genome for SARS-CoV–2 on January 11, 2020, allowing the effort to develop a vaccine to begin.