operation warp speed operation warp speed operation warp speed (ows) was a public–private partnership initiated by the united states government to facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of covid-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. the first news report of operation warp speed was on april 29, 2020, and the program was officially announced on may 15, 2020. it was headed by moncef slaoui from may 2020 to january 2021 and by david a. kessler from january to february 2021. at the end of february 2021, operation warp speed was transferred into the responsibilities of the white house covid-19 response team. operation warp speedofficial seal of operation warp speedactivemay 15, 2020 – february 24, 2021(285 days)disbandedtransitioned to white house covid-19 response teamcountryunited statesallegiance united statespart ofu.s. department of defenseu.s. department of health and human servicesother various government agenciesengagementscoronavirus disease 2019websitecoronavirus: operation warp speedcommandersheadmoncef slaouichief operating officergeneral gustave f. pernacommander in chiefdonald trump joe biden part of a series on thecovid-19 pandemicscientifically accurate atomic model of the external structure of sars-cov-2. each "ball" is an atom. covid-19 (disease) sars-cov-2 (virus) cases deaths timeline 2019 2020 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses november responses december responses 2021 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses november responses december responses 2022 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses november december 2023 january 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prisons religion catholic church hajj science and technology social media strikes suicides telehealth xenophobia and racism society ireland malaysia new zealand russia uk us covid-19 portal the program promoted mass production of multiple vaccines, and different types of vaccine technologies, based on preliminary evidence, allowing for faster distribution if clinical trials confirm one of the vaccines is safe and effective. the plan anticipated that some of these vaccines will not prove safe or effective, making the program more costly than typical vaccine development, but potentially leading to the availability of a viable vaccine several months earlier than typical timelines. operation warp speed, initially funded with about $10 billion from the cares act (coronavirus aid, relief, and economic security) passed by the united states congress on march 27, 2020, was an interagency program that includes components of the department of health and human services, including the centers for disease control and prevention, food and drug administration, the national institutes of health, and the biomedical advanced research and development authority (barda); the department of defense; private firms; and other federal agencies, including the department of agriculture, the department of energy, and the department of veterans affairs. history president donald trump formally announced operation warp speed on may 15, 2020, in the white house rose garden. on may 15, 2020, president donald trump officially announced the public-private partnership. the purpose of operation warp speed was to coordinate health and human services-wide efforts, including the nih activ partnership for vaccine and therapeutic development, the nih radx initiative for diagnostic development, and work by barda. operation warp speed was formed to encourage private and public partnerships to enable faster approval and production of vaccines during the covid-19 pandemic. the name was inspired by terminology for faster-than-light travel used in the star trek fictional universe, evoking a sense of rapid progress. the food and drug administration announced on june 30, 2020, that a vaccine would need to be at least 50% effective for diminishing the severity of covid-19 symptoms to obtain regulatory and marketing approval. in january 2021, white house press secretary jen psaki announced that the program was expected to undergo a restructure and renaming under the biden administration. also in january 2021, dr. moncef slaoui, former operation warp speed lead, was told not to use the name operation warp speed anymore. at the end of february 2021, responsibilities of operation warp speed were transferred into the white house covid-19 response team. goals according to the department of health and human services' fact sheet, the main stated goal of operation warp speed was to "produce and deliver 300 million doses of safe and effective vaccines with the initial doses available by january 2021, as part of a broader strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of covid-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics". specific targets, as outlined in various media, included: support pharmaceutical companies for r&d of seven different vaccine candidates simultaneously and certain therapeutic compounds support several vaccine manufacturers for rapid scale-up of manufacturing capacity support organization and facilitate simultaneous fda review of phase i-iii clinical trials on several of the most promising vaccine candidates facilitate manufacturing vaccine candidates while they remain pre-approved during prefinal clinical research to prepare for rapid deployment, if proven to be safe and effective coordinate with the department of defense for vaccine supply, production, and deployment around the united states, and track every vaccine vial and the injection schedule for each american receiving a vaccination while coordination was expected with the fda on technical matters, commissioner stephen hahn noted that the fda would "provide technical and development assistance to operation warp speed, but the manufacturers decide if they're going to go forward or not" and clarified that the agency had "drawn a very bright line at fda between us and operation warp speed because we're the independent regulator". budget and leadership operation warp speed used barda as the financial interface between the u.s. federal government and the biomedical industry. the program was initially being funded with $10 billion, with additional funds allocated through barda. funding was increased to about $18 billion by october 2020. rick bright, the barda director, was reassigned on or about april 22, 2020, following his resistance to (as he phrased it) "efforts to fund potentially dangerous drugs promoted by those with political connections". in may, new leadership was announced. moncef slaoui was named operation warp speed's chief adviser. slaoui is a vaccine researcher and, formerly, chairman of global research and development and chairman of global vaccines at glaxosmithkline, where he led the development of five vaccines. general gustave f. perna, who served as commanding general of army materiel command, was named operation warp speed chief operating officer. retired lieutenant general paul a. ostrowski, who previously served as director of the army acquisition corps, was the director of supply, production and distribution. army major general christopher j. sharpsten was the deputy director. alex azar, mark esper, and deborah birx were on the board of directors of ows, while tony fauci, francis collins, and robert redfield were nonvoting advisers. companies receiving research funding