Operation warp speed was incredibly successful. Not sure where this narrative that the whole response was a disaster comes from. Too much MSNBC?
Demonizing and downplaying and sowing doubt on the credibility of public health did incredible damage. One of the reasons the US suffered as badly as it did is because the Trump admin treated it like a PR attack on Trump, instead of like a legitimate crisis, which it was.
Trump’s failure is commonly assumed to have killed almost half-million people. And that’s just Trump’s response to COVID, turning vaccine hesitancy into a mainstream right-wing shibboleth is going to be a gift that keeps giving.
Warp speed also didn’t really help that much. Of the recipients, only Moderna’s was successful, and Pfizer wasn’t part of the program. And that’s before we get into insider trading allegations and how it didn’t coordinate with anyone internationally.
Pfizer received a good chunk of change from warp speed. Besides that, it’s not like they were the only successful manufacturers. I’m not sure I’d view “vaccine hesitancy” as a gift in any sense…
To quote their own R&D lead: "Pfizer’s head of vaccine and research and development, Kathrin Jansen, had said on November 8 that they “were never part of the Warp Speed”. They did receive a large initial order, but they didn’t partake of Warp Speed for R&D. They did, however, get funding from European governments.
Moderna was the only completely successful recipient of Warp Speed funding. AstraZeneca was the other one, but their offering had issues with blood clotting.
