'Warp Speed' vaccine program eyes DOD for logistics muscle

The Defense Department will be key to rapidly distributing hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses if the new "Operation Warp Speed" team can successfully develop and test one, according to senior administration officials.

Operation Warp Speed, first established in May, aims to deliver 300 million doses of vaccine by January, but the officials told reporters they cannot guarantee success with "100% probability." Instead, the officials said, the federal government is doing what it can to "maximize" the probability of success.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper has promised a vaccine by January, though some experts have signaled skepticism.

Operation Warp Speed is being run by a team from the Health and Human Services and Defense departments. Gen. Gus Perna, chief of Army Materiel Command, will serve as the project's chief operating officer.

Key to Operation Warp Speed's success, the senior administration officials said, will be spending billions in taxpayer funds to identify 14 of the best possible vaccine candidates that can be developed and tested concurrently, while maintaining traditional safety standards.

"The federal government is making investments in the necessary manufacturing capacity at its own risk, giving firms confidence that they can invest aggressively in development and allowing faster distribution of an eventual vaccine," according to an HHS fact sheet. "Manufacturing capacity for selected candidates will be advanced while they are still in development, rather than scaled up after approval or authorization."

But before the vaccines are approved, the federal government will prepare the infrastructure required to distribute them. The plan will lean heavily on DOD's existing logistics network and expertise.

Operation Warp Speed "will expand domestic manufacturing and supplies of specialized materials and resources, such as glass vials, that can be necessary for distribution," the fact sheet says. "DOD's involvement will enable faster distribution and administration than would have otherwise been possible."

The senior administration officials pledged the vaccines would be affordable and said manufacturers accepting taxpayer funds have agreed.