This is exactly my problem. The United States is structurally terrible at responding to a pandemic. We have a slow moving, federal republic with (ostensibly) a weak executive. We have open borders between states that is (arguably) constitutionally protected. We have a patchwork of local authorities with differing skills and abilities.

The federal republic is an incredible system of government for many things. The balance that it has (in theory) restricts it from doing anything quickly, including responding to a pandemic.

Yes, the pandemic caught us with our pants down, so to speak. But I would not trade for authoritarian control for protection against a once-in-a-century pandemic.

(I know Aus is not an authoritarian country and is quite like the US culturally. But it is an island. The only non-island nations that have curtailed this are strong authoritarian states)