It’s summer 2020 and with Covid infections surging across America, the Trump administration’s ready to spend billions to get a vaccine fast. For vaccine makers — who face the enormous costs of rapidly upscaling manufacturing and pushing their shots through large-scale human trials — the government funding is a lifeline. But as the push to create vaccines hits warp speed, there’s a growing need to reassure the public that science, not politics, is in the driver’s seat.