Capitalism didnât produce the COVID vaccine on its own | Letters Hereâs what readers are saying in Thursdayâs letters to the editor. Â Â Micah Kerr gets his COVID-19 vaccination at the Visiting Nurses Association of Central Jersey clinic at the Asbury Park Senior Center in New Jersey earlier this month. [ THOMAS P. COSTELLO | Asbury Park Press ] Published Earlier today The letter writer seems to believe that drug development is a capitalistic endeavor and that Pfizer and Moderna developed these vaccines without any input from a âsocialist government.â In fact, basic research conducted at the United Statesâ National Institutes of Health, Defense Department, and federally funded academic laboratories has been the essential ingredient in the rapid development of vaccines in response to COVID-19. Our taxes that have supported the development of these life-saving vaccines. The government has poured an added $10.5 billion into vaccine companies since the pandemic began, to accelerate the delivery of their products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, instrumental in evaluating the preliminary research, monitored the safety of the clinical trials and approved conditional use of the drugs. The state and local government dealt with distribution. From this âsocialisticâ approach, we get a vaccine. In a pure capitalistic system, we would be paying a lot of money to get vaccinated.