Atlas for a Warp Speed Future: Enhancing Usual Operating Modes of the U.S. Government

Abstract

Operation Warp Speed (OWS) delivered new and effective vaccines to the general public in just 9 months, exploding previously held ideas about the government's role in medical countermeasure (MCM) development as well as what is possible on the timescale of vaccine development. OWS has potential to become a map for action in future pandemic crises. This article examines federal modes of governance that emerged in response to the Covid‐19 crisis, with special attention to how those modes differ from normal government operations. It is at the intersection of crisis modes of action and normal modes of operation that lessons emerge from OWS that may be worth applying in normal times – or not.In “Rules for Operating at Warp Speed,” I outlined how the leadership of OWS was able to accelerate operations under a suspension of the government's usual modes of operation (Arnold, 20201). This included suspension of rules that normally govern transparent and robust federal contracting and relaxing standards for scientific consensus‐building and expertise across government. This article draws from interviews completed in 2020 and 2021 with senior officials at the Department of Defense (DOD), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the White House in order to identify the key pandemic modes of action contributing to the success of OWS. It also discusses whether (and how) those modes of action might be adapted to enhance critical infrastructure preparedness in non‐crisis times.