The Trump administration is reportedly organizing a project that is speeding the development of a coronavirus vaccine, with a goal of producing enough doses for most Americans by the end of the year.
"Operation Warp Speed" is pulling together public and private agencies, as well as the military, to cut the vaccine's development time, according to Bloomberg. The effort is being likened to the Manhattan Project, which pulled together a variety of sectors to develop the nation's atomic bomb.
According to an administration official, the project’s goal is to have 300 million doses of vaccine available by January. Taxpayers will shoulder much of the financial risk that vaccine candidates may fail, instead of drug companies.
On Wednesday, a California-based biotechnology company said its coronavirus antiviral drug had succeeded in a critical trial. Gilead Sciences said remdesivir "has met its primary endpoint" in a trial study conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The company stressed the drug is not yet licensed or approved anywhere globally and has not demonstrated to be safe or effective for coronavirus treatment.
President Donald Trump’s top medical advisers, led by infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, have repeatedly said a coronavirus vaccine won’t be ready for 12 months to 18 months. Michael Caputo, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said the president is refusing to accept that timeline and is encouraging a breakthrough process.
“Operation Warp Speed is clearly another extension of President Trump’s bold leadership and unwillingness to accept ‘business as usual’ approaches to addressing the COVID-19 crisis,” Caputo said.
On Thursday, Fauci said new cases of the coronavirus are a certainty as states begin to roll back restrictions. States need to proceed carefully as they take steps to reopen businesses and allow greater freedom of movement, Fauci said.
His warnings came a day after Trump said the federal government would not extend its social distancing guidelines past Thursday. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, predicted that by July the country would be “really rocking again,” despite health experts assessing that as highly unlikely.
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