I understand your point, but it simply does not work that way.

First and foremost, understand pharma companies don't like to develop vaccines for precisely the reason you are complaining about. If they fail, they take huge losses and if they succeed everyone wants the product in the public domain.

And almost always, vaccines produce terrible reactions in some people that produce massive product liability lawsuits. To cover the cost of the product liability, the price of vaccines makes them unaffordable, which is why the government indemnified the pharma companies for the vaccines.

Recognizing, pharma companies would rather not be in the vaccine business, there is an argument to be made that governments should take over the development and production of vaccines and simply pay research companies whatever it takes to develop the vaccine.

I am not sure the vaccines would cost less or work better or be safer, but at least people celebrate the fact, that no one was making a profit from them.