Re:Operation Warp Speed: A new model for industrial policy
by NicoJuicy on Monday January 31, 2022 @12:01PM
(#30150297)
Additional data to support my perception.
Israel was quicker in rollout/receiving vaccines, because they also paid more than the US: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-03-04/pfizer-pf...
( And were willing to share countrywide data)
It's important to note, that the first authorized vaccine ( BionTech/Pfizer) was not funded by operation warp speed and they explicitely denied it to avoid political interference.
Pfizer did a flawless execution ( they were chosen by BionTech because of their experience), simultaneous clinical trials ( funded by governements) and faster approval by governements made the BIGGEST difference from multiple years for a vaccine to just one year. Doing that process almost flawlessly by Pfizer is not an easy task!
The Cold Storage pipeline was already mentioned since 1976 and many countries outside of the US had a very good execution. The logistical issues were also ( not coinsidence) not "rich countries" unfortunately. Ebola paved the way for a lot of regulatory changes too as a lot of bottlenecks were discovered before Covid.
Also the reduced requirement from -60° to -20° made it easier to hook into the existing cold chain pipeline ( but not without hurdles ofc, but the tech was already available - https://www.unicef.org/supply/stories/historic-push-provide-... )
The US started to deliver vaccines 2 months faster ( Europe didn't do premium pricing, did more in cooperation which made it slower ( > 25 countries!) and didn't waver pharma responsibilities. They also bought more Astra Zenica which wasn't the right bet).
My POV of Operation WarpSpeed: buy all possible vaccines at premium pricing and then distribute it like the others, while leaving last-mile delivery to the states themselves is really just picking the easy work and letting others do the hard work.
Long-term: As it's the governments "initiative", they should have promoted the vaccines more and made more information available. Other countries greatly overtook the US by vaccination rates by now and the "total package" should be compared.
It's not the start that counts, it's the finish that matters.
TLDR: I don't know where Operation WarpSpeed made any proven difference that couldn't be done by buying all possible vaccines.