A eulogy for Operation Warp Speed

..."The logo for Operation Warp Speed was a hybrid of the official seals of the Department of Defense and the Department of Defense and Health and Human Services. It featured a coronavirus capsule at the center with radial streaks of stars zooming past as if moving at warp speed. Although there were culture clashes for sure, these strange bedfellows found a way to achieve that which was once thought impossible."...

While the world’s richest countries have reached vaccination rates of 50 percent or more, many countries in Africa have scarcely received a dose. Haiti’s vaccination rate sits at 1.2 percent. Last month, Andy Slavitt, a former senior advisor to the Biden administration’s COVID Response Coordinator, tweeted that following the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, “It may be time to send them to Africa & Haiti to assist with vaccination efforts & saving lives.” The pushback from the public health community online was predictably fierce, suggesting that military involvement would reek of imperialism and paternalism. Others took the moment to criticize the hiccups in the first weeks of the U.S. rollout, which were due more to manufacturing challenges and political leadership than the military involvement. Operation Warp Speed, in my view, remains a testament to the mission-focus that the organization can bring to the table in a time of national crisis. It’s a lesson that, regardless of our politics, I hope we don’t soon forget.

Who would have expected a political party would tell their minions to do nothing personal to protect themselves, but refuse to go the ICUs to give thumbs up to the patients and those dying.