I will point out that my work proposing funding mechanisms to work on that, and the idea, was being funded by exactly those EA orgs which OpenPhil and others were funding. (But I’m not sure why they people you spoke with claim that they wouldn’t fund this, and following your lead, I’ll ignore the various issues with the practicalities—we didn’t know mRNA was the right thing to bet on in May 2020, the total cost for enough manufacturing for the world to be vaccinated in <6 months is probably a (single digit) multiple of $4bn, etc.)
I will point out that my work proposing funding mechanisms to work on that, and the idea, was being funded by exactly those EA orgs which OpenPhil and others were funding. (But I’m not sure why they people you spoke with claim that they wouldn’t fund this, and following your lead, I’ll ignore the various issues with the practicalities—we didn’t know mRNA was the right thing to bet on in May 2020, the total cost for enough manufacturing for the world to be vaccinated in <6 months is probably a (single digit) multiple of $4bn, etc.)