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The pharmaceutical industry delivered billions of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines at speed but, as highlighted by Els Torreele and colleagues,1 these vaccines did not reach lower-income countries quickly enough. Science delivered, but the equity challenge did not. To acknowledge this, we supported calls for greater sharing of vaccines.2

stry delivered billions of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines at speed but, as highlighted by Els Torreele and colleagues,1 these vaccines did not reach lower-income countries quickly enough. Science delivered, but the equity challenge did not. To acknowledge this, we supported calls for greater sharing of vaccines.2 The authors' proposal goes against the lessons learnt from COVID-19 by ignoring the current innovation ecosystem that worked for this pandemic and is needed to tackle future ones. This ecosystem nurtured decades of research that was instrumental in the COVID-19 response, such as mRNA vaccines, and if up-ended (unnecessarily), it is highly improbable that commitments to the 100 Days Mission can be achieved.3 Policies adopted for future pandemics should be evidence based. The facts are that innovation and science worked, as did the immediate sharing of pathogens and collaboration resulting in hundreds of partnerships and voluntary technological transfer.4 The focus should be on the challenges that led to the inequitable rollout–vaccine nationalism and need for more diverse manufacturing. Lessons learned from these challenges have guided an industry proposal for equitable response to future pandemics supported by developed and developing vaccine manufacturers and biotechnologies.5 We propose to set aside, in real time, a percentage of pandemic tools for allocation to susceptible populations in low-income countries. If world leaders join forces, this practical solution could be a roadmap to a new social contract that builds in equity for future pandemic response.