The point wasn't that mRNA was the way to go, the point was that the only reasonable way to prepare to mass produce any vaccines, mRNA or "traditional" formats,

The point wasn't that mRNA was the way to go, the point was that the only reasonable way to prepare to mass produce any vaccines, mRNA or "traditional" formats, was for a government to either nationalize development of the production systems, or fork over billions of dollars to have the production lines ready for whatever vaccine was developed. Instead, the administration sat on its hands and said "what could we possibly do?" and the mess we have today (in the US at least) is the direct result.