Introduction

At the end of 2020 the first vaccines against Covid-19 were approved, with many more in the development pipeline. Vaccine development seemed to reflect political rivalries reminiscent of the Cold War. World War I had stimulated intensive efforts to develop vaccines against typhus and typhoid which would save the lives of soldiers fighting in insanitary trenches. New scientific possibilities and active promotion of vaccination by the Federal government drew American pharmaceutical companies back into vaccine production. Historians have suggested that the concept of global health was crafted partly in response to struggles for authority among international organizations. The transformation in the vaccine system that began in the 1980s was a consequence of two distinguishable, though interrelated, processes. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.