Roy Blunt: Finishing the fight against COVID-19

(From Sen. Roy Blunt, R-MO)

Both Pfizer and Moderna announced their vaccine candidates are highly effective in preventing COVID-19. Today, Pfizer is expected to ask the Food and Drug Administration to authorize the emergency use of its vaccine.

In May, the Trump administration announced the establishment of Operation Warp Speed, a public-private partnership aimed at speeding up the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

A little over six months later, through Operation Warp Speed, we are now closer to getting a vaccine and beating this pandemic – and on a faster timeline than we thought possible. 

 

Scientists and innovators across the government - the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and the Department of Defense - have worked tirelessly alongside their private sector partners to develop these vaccines and get us to this point.

In the Senate, I chair the appropriations subcommittee that funds health-related agencies, including HHS, NIH, and BARDA. Throughout this pandemic, my priority has been ensuring these agencies have the resources they need to take on this unprecedented public health challenge.

From the beginning, Congress made a commitment that we would not let funding stand in the way of immediate action. Because of that, it’s important for Americans to understand that the accelerated timeline for a vaccine in no way undercuts its safety. Americans will only be able to receive the vaccine once it has been proven safe and effective. The reason we were able to reach this point so quickly is because the government did things differently to respond to the unique crisis we were facing.

First, we funded multiple candidates, knowing some of them would fail. In the words of the Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor University, if you are racing to get a vaccine quickly, “one way to do that is put as many horses in the race as you can.”

Second, Operation Warp Speed was able to shorten processing times by combining study phases and clinical trials. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine described this overlapping timeline as moving at “pandemic speed.”

Finally, the government took the extraordinary step to manufacture vaccine candidates during the testing process. This allows Operation Warp Speed to have doses ready for distribution the moment that the FDA issues an emergency use authorization.

American ingenuity has always been a hallmark of our country. It’s because of that spirit that we are where we are in this fight.

This news about the vaccines is incredibly promising but remember, we must all continue to do our part. Wash our hands frequently, use hand sanitizer, practice social distancing, and wear a mask. We’ve come a long way in our efforts to beat this pandemic.

While we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, we must stay careful and keep up the fight.