Operation Warp Speed
Operation Warp Speed (OWS) is a coalition that was initiated by the United States of America (USA) Government in April 2020 with an aim to fasten the development of COVID 19 Vaccine.
Operation Warp Speed is an inter-agency program that includes components of the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and the National Institutes of Health; private firms; the Department of Defense; and other federal agencies, including the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Key Points
- OWS is a Public-Private-Partnership with leading pharma giants like Pfizer and Moderna, working in close association with various Government agencies.
- It aims to manufacture and deliver 300 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine by January 2021.
- The operation expects that by December 2020, close to 25 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 15 million Moderna vaccines will be available.
- The US Government has allotted a budget of USD 10 billion for Operation Warp Speed.
Lilly therapeutic for patients with mild to moderate COVID-19
On November 10, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced its plan to issue initial doses of “bamlanivimab” which is an investigational monoclonal antibody therapeutic of Eli Lilly and Company. Bamlanivimab has received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of mild or moderate confirmed COVID-19 cases.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
It is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US government formed for protecting the health of all Americans and for providing essential services. Alex Azar is the present Secretary of the department.