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Initech

(99,915 posts)
Wed Apr 29, 2020, 07:50 PM Apr 2020

Trump's 'Operation Warp Speed' Aims to Rush Coronavirus Vaccine

The Trump administration is organizing a Manhattan Project-style effort to drastically cut the time needed to develop a coronavirus vaccine, with a goal of making enough doses for most Americans by year’s end.

Called “Operation Warp Speed,” the program will pull together private pharmaceutical companies, government agencies and the military to try to cut the development time for a vaccine by as much as eight months, according to two people familiar with the matter.

As part of the arrangement, taxpayers will shoulder much of the financial risk that vaccine candidates may fail, instead of drug companies.

The project’s goal is to have 300 million doses of vaccine available by January, according to one administration official. There is no precedent for such rapid development of a vaccine.

President Donald Trump’s top medical advisers, led by the infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, have repeatedly said that a coronavirus vaccine won’t be ready for 12 to 18 months at best. Until then, White House guidelines envision some economically damaging social-distancing practices maintained even as the U.S. begins to resume a more normal social and business life.

Last month, Trump directed Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to speed development of a vaccine, and administration officials have been meeting on the effort for three to four weeks, one of the people said. A meeting on the project was scheduled at the White House on Wednesday.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trumps-operation-warp-speed-aims-to-rush-coronavirus-vaccine/ar-BB13nXS9?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp


Holy crap, they really are going full Stalin on us. We get to pay for our own cure, the drug companies are off the hook for any damages, and it's going to kill a whole lot of us. USA! USA! USA! USA!
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mwooldri

(10,291 posts)
1. And I bet the team at Oxford University will beat them.
Wed Apr 29, 2020, 07:55 PM
Apr 2020

I say this because they have already ordered a million doses from a manufacturer in India - and they're about to start Stage 2/3 testing. Whereas most everyone else is on Stage 1 at best.

brewens

(13,400 posts)
10. I'd say it's a great idea to start cranking that stuff out even if it fails. They're way ahead
Wed Apr 29, 2020, 08:30 PM
Apr 2020

if it's good to go that way. Now if they are just nice enough to share some with us. I actually couldn't blame them if they didn't. I wouldn't even blink if Boris demanded Trump be nicer to them. The ol' quid pro quo as it were.

 

HarlanPepper

(2,042 posts)
2. Not a comment on the vaccine itself
Wed Apr 29, 2020, 07:58 PM
Apr 2020

But drug companies have been indemnified by the govt for a long time with regard to vaccine liability. This is nothing new. Rushing something to market in a situation as serious as this is, is new. The upside is Trump couldn’t organize a trip to the mailbox so it’s unlikely to play out the way he hopes.

Initech

(99,915 posts)
5. I wouldn't trust Trump to give me an over the counter bottle of Advil.
Wed Apr 29, 2020, 08:07 PM
Apr 2020

I'd far more likely trust the Oxford vaccine before the Trump one, given his affection for hawking cheap, crappy merchandise.

 

HarlanPepper

(2,042 posts)
6. Yes, I'm rooting for some other country to develop it first as well
Wed Apr 29, 2020, 08:07 PM
Apr 2020

So Dump can’t take credit for it.

Newest Reality

(12,712 posts)
4. This is truly
Wed Apr 29, 2020, 07:59 PM
Apr 2020

This is truly becoming a Humpty Dumpty moment. While the quest for a vaccine is important, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the Desperate Orange Cockwomble is taking center stage with it, as usual.

We already know that it can be a while before a safe vaccine is developed and that it will also be a challenge to come up with enough doses and distribute it. Hopefully some viper company won't make it expensive enough to keep it from certain people.

Operation Warp Speed? Ah, shouldn't that been the theme for actions taken a few months back when this was known about and had been warned of for so long? Then it was Operation Brick Wall and the Snail and Molasses Initiative.

The egg has fallen off the wall, so to speak. They can try all the crazy glue they want, but I don't see it being restored.

redstatebluegirl

(12,264 posts)
8. Let me guess he read on the internet that you didn't need testing.
Wed Apr 29, 2020, 08:12 PM
Apr 2020

Without being thoroughly tested I'm not getting one. If Trump hurries it along it would be like drinking Clorox. Nothing he says is good is good it may kill you.

kimbutgar

(20,882 posts)
11. Science can't be rushed and if this vaccine comes out too soon without testing and kills people it
Wed Apr 29, 2020, 08:31 PM
Apr 2020

Will be his fault.

Disaffected

(4,508 posts)
12. Good on 'em if they can do it but
Wed Apr 29, 2020, 08:36 PM
Apr 2020

the question is, how many risks and shortcuts will be taken to meet the goal?? It's a virtual certainty that Dr Dump et al will be willing to risk a lot (of other people's welfare & lives) to get it out the door ASAP so he can claim credit. Even better to announce its successful development & beginning of deployment before November. This sounds like Dump's latest Hail Mary to rescue his election chances.

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