Just to clear up who did what during vaccine development...
...Operation Warp Speed...
Operation Warp Speed didn't come into being until May 15, 2020.
Is that when you believe an all out effort began on new vaccines? The initial legislation that provided billions in funding to BARDA to jump-start vaccine development was the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 which was enacted March 6, 2020. Much was written about this before and after the passage of the bill, but since you like Wikipedia, let's start there.
The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (H.R. 6074) is an act of Congress enacted on March 6, 2020. The legislation provided emergency supplemental appropriations of $8.3 billion in fiscal year 2020 to combat the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and counter the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The legislation passed the House 415–2 on March 4 and the Senate 96–1 on March 5, 2020. The legislation received broad bipartisan support. [Legislation introduced on March 4th and passed in both houses by the following day with nearly unanimous votes. Now that's warp speed!]
• Introduced in the House as the "Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020" (H.R. 6074) by Nita Lowey (D-NY) on March 4, 2020
• Committee consideration by Appropriations
• Passed the House on March 4, 2020 (415–2)
• Passed the Senate on March 5, 2020 (96–1)
• Signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 6, 2020
On February 24, 2020, the Trump administration asked Congress for $2.5 billion in emergency funding to combat the pandemic. The Republican chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Richard Shelby of Alabama, criticized the $2.5 billion as a "low ball" request. "Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were alarmed by what they deemed as the president’s paltry request to fight the bug amid criticism that his administration has bungled its response and failed to keep the American people clued in about the potential severity of the outbreak." Shortly after the Trump administration requested the $2.5 billion, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer unveiled a plan for "$8.5 billion in emergency funding to combat the coronavirus."The bill includes $8.3 billion in emergency funding to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The $8.3 billion is divided into $7.8 billion in discretionary appropriations and $500 million in mandatory spending. The $500 million is for "Medicare telehealth mandatory spending, which would allow Medicare providers to furnish telemedicine services to seniors."
Broken down by category, the bill provides funding for the following purposes:
•
More than $3 billion for "research and development of vaccines, as well as therapeutics and diagnostics• $2.2 billion "in public health funding to aid in prevention, preparedness and response efforts — including $950 million to support state and local agencies
• Almost $1 billion for "medical supplies, health-care preparedness, Community Health Centers and medical surge capacity
• $1.25 billion to fight COVID-19 internationally.
HouseOn March 4, 2020, the bill passed the House on an overwhelming 415–2 vote. Only two members, both Republicans, voted against the legislation: Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona and Representative Ken Buck of Colorado.
On the House floor shortly before the vote on the bill, Democratic Representative Nita Lowey, the sponsor of the bill and the chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, said, "While we all ardently hope that this public health emergency does not worsen, House Democrats will not hesitate to act again if we must augment this funding with more resources."
During the vote on the measure in the House, Republican Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida wore a gas mask on the House floor. Gaetz told journalists that "members of congress are human petri dishes." Gaetz received criticism from Representative Bobby Rush for "making light" of the coronavirus pandemic, and also from Walter Shaub, the former director of the United States Office of Government Ethics, who stated "Matt Gaetz mocked fear over the coronavirus."
SenateOn March 5, 2020, the bill passed the Senate by a 96–1 vote. Three senators—Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming—did not vote. Sanders was campaigning for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president, while Warren ended her own campaign for the Democratic nomination the same day.
The lone Senator to vote against the bill was Rand Paul of Kentucky. Paul had proposed an amendment that would have offset some of the coronavirus funding with cuts to State Department Cultural Exchange programs and USAID. Paul threatened to block the coronavirus legislation if his amendment did not receive a vote. The amendment failed on a 80–16 vote.
PresidentOn March 6, 2020, President Trump signed the bill into law in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House. At the time of signing, President Trump stated "So we’re signing the $8.3 billion. I asked for 2.5 and I got 8.3, and I’ll take it" and "So here we are, $8.3 billion. We’re doing very well. But it’s an unforeseen problem. What a problem. Came out of nowhere, but we’re taking care of it."
President Trump signed the bill on the same day that global coronavirus cases surpassed 100,000.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus_Preparedness_and_Response_Supplemental_Appropriations_Act,_2020[So, thanks for clearing up that Operation Warp Speed didn't join the party until it was well under way. Scientists were already working on converting the previous several years of work on mRNA technology to deliver COVID-19 vaccines
before any additional government funding was passed and the funding started well before Trump's May 15th branding and marketing of what in other national emergencies presidents have simply called a White House task force.]
