Why do we not have a vaccine for the “common cold” after however many years it has been since vaccines were first developed?
For anyone who has done any basic research into the cost and timing of the approval of any drug or vaccine, the answer is not particularly complex.
There are not a lot of people dying of colds. I don’t know of any charting which indicates the number of people per year who die of a cold - perhaps there is one or more out there; and I would be interested in seeing them.
It takes literally multi millions of dollars to research and to propose, test and re-test any vaccine or drug. And the cost of the drug/vaccine relates at least in part to the cost of developing it. If it is something that anyone would pursue, for starters I don’t know how they would raise sufficient funds to do so, and if they did, it would in essence be a “boutique” drug as it is not necessary. - meaning life saving, or saving from permanent significant physical damage.
I have heard the comment repeated, particularly by people who seem to be of the mindset that we cannot find a vaccine that will actually work. But the comparison is on its face a non-starter.
There was a good bit of chin chatter that no one would be able to find a workable vaccine.
I cant recall the exact number of different drug companies worldwide in the process of attempting to find a vaccine - or more than one - but I believe it was somewhere around 125 or more. Moderna seems to be in the lead at least to some extent; they are now in the process of second round of testing, with 30,000 individuals, with results from that due somewhere around the end of July beginning of August. There may be others, but I don’t keep a close eye on the research news.