COVID-19 has underlined that in a context of recurring pandemics, public health is a basicglobal public good, the provision of which presupposes effective and timely collective action atglobal level. It has exposed the limitations of the prevailing framework.This Policy Contribution positions global public health governance in the wider debate on thereform of international governance arrangements. It distinguishes between the ‘before’ phase ofpandemic preparedness, characterised by ‘denial and neglect’; the first phase (‘addressing theoutbreak’), with scientific cooperation but also an uncoordinated response to the outbreak; thesecond phase (‘responding and containing’), with a scaling up of testing, but also competitionfor scarce equipment and slow development of tests; the third ‘protecting’ phase, with theexceptional development of new vaccines but also rival vaccine diplomacy; and the final ‘exit’phase, with ramping up of vaccine distribution, but also a glaring failure to vaccinate poorcountries.