When observing countries’ responses to COVID-19, conclusions can be drawn on the modalities, successes, failures and governance challenges of partnerships between the public and private sectors during the pandemic. In the United Kingdom, Israel and Austria, these partnerships have contributed substantially to the overall emergency response, albeit with gaps and weaknesses in their structures and processes. These have differed from those of typical public-private partnerships. To be sustainable, partnerships need to be based on key principles of good governance, notably transparency and fairness as well as equity and social justice, all of which may be strengthened both during and post-pandemic.