Operation Warp Speed!
Time to take credit again
Most Awaited!
Finally COVID-19’s vaccine is out and available to patients in UK at the moment. COVID-19 shot was developed by US drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. President Donald Trump celebrated the expected approval of the first U.S. vaccine for the coronavirus Tuesday.
Moderna has also developed its own version of COVID-19 vaccine.
Although both the versions of vaccines have been determined to be 95% effective, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still needs to conduct a final review of Pfizer and Moderna and provide the approval for US market.
Pfizer developed vaccine outside of “Operation Warp Speed” program, but is partnering with the federal government on manufacturing and distribution.
What is Operation WARP Speed?
Operation Warp Speed (OWS) is a public–private partnership initiated by the U.S. government to facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.
Too late or too early to take the credit
Trump led Tuesday’s White House event celebrating “Operation Warp Speed (OWS),” his administration’s effort to produce and distribute safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19.
“They say it’s somewhat of a miracle and I think that’s true,”-Donald Trump
OWS is a partnership among components of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and the Department of Defense (DoD).
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced funding of $1.95 billion to Pfizer in month of July, 2020, for large scale manufacturing and distribution of the vaccine.
What people are saying
Those who like Trump are saying it’s a Miracle that’s what Trump said in the conference.
Challenges
Trust issue: People might not trust the vaccine completely and be hesitant to take it.
“What would be the worst is a vaccine that’s safe, a vaccine that’s effective, a vaccine that’s distributed, and vaccine systems now able to get vaccines in the arms of people — and people just don’t take it,”-Dr. Umair Shah
Vaccine developed by Pfizer needs to be stored at an unprecedented -70°C (-94° F), no approved drug has ever needed to be held at this temperature. Pharmacies usually dont have freezers that can maintain at this temperature.
“The clock starts well before you actually receive the product,” said Soumi Saha
“If you have a staff of 25,000 you have to vaccinate, it’s not going to be easy to find the staff to do that,” Saha said.
Verdict
We hope the vaccine turns out to be successful in longer term and reaches whomever needs the most. I wouldn’t call it as a miracle, it is hard work of scientist and researchers, who have put in long hours to reach up to this mark.
Multiple vaccines needs to be approved to meet global demand. Once, the approvals are given, supply chain complexity becomes another obstacle. Along with distribution of the vaccine, we have to cope up with staff shortage to apply shots to the patients. Finally healthcare providers need to keep track of the effort and ensure people who were supposed to get vaccinated got vaccinated.
