Difference between revisions of "Operation Warp Speed"

Revision as of 20:19, January 21, 2021

Operation Warp Speed was a Trump Administration era program that enabled for the swift development and delivery of a vaccine that was to be used to inoculate the population against the COVID-19 "China Virus" pandemic that struck the United States in 2020. Through unprecedented efforts and removal of obstacle procedural hurdles, the vaccine was developed and distributed within months of the first discovered case of the virus in the United States.

The first discovered/confirmed case of the novel coronavirus outbreak SARS-COV-2, aka COVID-19, in the United States was documented to be on January 21, 2020.^[1] Operation Warp Speed was established and multiple companies were financed for the development of a vaccine. The Research Vaccine Testing and Approval Process was complete by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, and the initial distribution of the vaccine was accomplished during the final months of President Trump's presidency, following the 2020 Presidential election. In December 2020, the first vaccine was authorized for distribution.^[2]

American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German biotechnology company BioNTech collaborated and developed the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine^[3] and American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Moderna developed the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine.^[4] Both vaccines were authorized by the FDA, shortly after the 2020 Presidential election was held.^[5] Following FDA approval, distribution began immediately via prearranged methods organized by the Trump Administration's COVID-19 task force.

The COVID-19 vaccines were administered by a variety of healthcare professionals that included: doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physicians assistants, and pharmacy technicians. These professionals received training on how to administer the vaccine and how to manage very rare side effects of the vaccines.^[6] The first U.S. vaccinations for COVID-19 were administered on December 14, 2020. Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse was the first inoculated with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in New York.^[7]

In December 2020, Admiral Brett Giroir, who was on the White House COVID-19 task force, reported that the country was on track to distribute 20 million vaccine doses, at least, by the first week of January 2021 and that approximately 30 million more doses were projected for the rest of January and another 50 million in February 2021. Additionally, it was reported that a third COVID-19 vaccine, developed by either Johnson & Johnson or Janssen Pharmaceuticals, could be approved for distribution as soon as January 2021.^[8]

In January 2021, conservative radio talk-show host and journalist Howie Carr acknowledged and thanked President Trump for the effort, stating in an open letter published in the Boston Herald:

"Thank you, Mr. President, for everything you’ve done... Thank you for Operation Warp Speed, an amazing achievement for which you will never receive the appropriate credit."^[9]

Distribution and administering of the vaccine was initially hindered and/or rejected by some local state electorate engaged in political opposition to President Trump's objectives.^[10]

References