Operation Warp Speed and the Countermeasures Acceleration Group— A Twenty-first Century Manhattan Project: Preliminary Observations on the U.S. Department of Defense’s Role in the Supply, Production, and Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines and Therapeutics

Abstract

On 15 May 2020, Operation Warp Speed, later renamed the HHSDOD COVID-19 Countermeasures Acceleration Group (CAG), was a collaboration between the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense (DOD), and the private sector to accelerate development, production, and distribution of effective vaccines and therapeutics to counter COVID-19 for the American people. The CAG was the nucleus of the “whole-of-America” effort to defeat COVID-19, and DOD’s contribution was essential to the success of the CAG. This article highlights the contributions made by DOD, with a focus on innovative solutions and best practices that might apply to other DOD activities.