The Fight to Get a COVID-19 Vaccine: The Inside Story of the Administration’s Operation Warp Speed

Operation Warp Speed (OWS) is an unprecedented public-private partnership to produce and deliver 300 million doses of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine by January 2021. Thus far nearly $10 billion has been directed by Congress to this effort which carries the promise of an early end to the pandemic and the resumption by Americans of their normal lives. The two main government partners within OWS are the Health and Human Services and Defense Departments. The Department of Defense is providing key assistance and capabilities including assistance with logistics, contracting and supply chain management. Something else DOD is providing is leadership.

In May 2020 Army General Gus Perna was weeks away from concluding a 39 year military career when President Donald Trump called upon him to serve as the Chief Operating Officer for OWS. Confirmed by the Senate on July 2, General Perna with Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the Chief Scientific Advisor, now helps lead this historic undertaking which has been compared to the country’s WWII Manhattan Project.

This engaging webinar will probe the goal, the progress and the challenges involved with this critical project. We will also explore the status of the vaccines and how an Army General has adapted to lead an effort requiring the cooperation of literally hundreds of different entities, both in and out of government.

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