WEBVTT - Inside the Push For a Vaccine in the U.S.

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Prognosis. I'm Laura Carlson. It's day two d

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<v Speaker 1>and thirty three since coronavirus was declared a global pandemic.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's main story the White House is most visible and

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<v Speaker 1>coordinated response to the pandemic has been Operation Warp Speed,

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<v Speaker 1>the project to fast track vaccine development. Whether Trump wins

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<v Speaker 1>or loses on election day, the program could be our

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<v Speaker 1>best chance to get free from this outbreak if he

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<v Speaker 1>stays out of the way. But first, here's what happened

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<v Speaker 1>in virus News today. Supporters of President Trump chanted fire

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<v Speaker 1>Fauci at the president's campaign rally Sunday night. The President

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<v Speaker 1>made comments hinting he would fire Fauci, the director of

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<v Speaker 1>a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, after the election.

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<v Speaker 1>It's the latest attack on Fauci from the Trump white House,

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<v Speaker 1>who criticized him on Sunday after Faucci warned in a

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<v Speaker 1>Washington Post interview that the country was heading for a

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<v Speaker 1>drawn out period of illness and death. Daily cases in

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<v Speaker 1>the US are surging as Tuesday's election approaches. The current

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<v Speaker 1>wave of cases is bigger than the one scene in

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<v Speaker 1>the spring. Goldman, Sachs and Deutsche Bank were among the

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<v Speaker 1>companies that told UK staff that all but essential employees

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<v Speaker 1>should work from home. England's nationwide lockdown will legally expire

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<v Speaker 1>on December two, but the government says it will look

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<v Speaker 1>at a range of indicators before easing restrictions. Large swaths

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<v Speaker 1>of Europe are also entering lockdown this week. Finally, a

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<v Speaker 1>coronavirus vaccine under development from cure vac NV showed a

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<v Speaker 1>good immune response in early trials, validating the biotech company's

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<v Speaker 1>research into messenger RNA's ability to train the body's defenses.

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<v Speaker 1>The most promising vaccine dose produced an immune response comparable

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<v Speaker 1>to that found and recovered patients in an early stage test,

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<v Speaker 1>according to the German company. And now for today's main story,

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<v Speaker 1>Operation warp Speed, the White House's effort to fast track

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<v Speaker 1>of vaccine for COVID nineteen appears to be the conspicuous

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<v Speaker 1>exception to the government's otherwise disastrous management of the pandemic.

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<v Speaker 1>The project has cleared bureaucratic hurdles and awarded more than

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<v Speaker 1>twelve billion dollars in vaccine related contracts, and has an

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<v Speaker 1>overall budget of as much as eighteen billion dollars. I

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<v Speaker 1>spoke with reporter Cynthia Coons, who wrote in Bloomberg Business

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<v Speaker 1>Week about what Operation Warp Speed is doing behind the scenes. So,

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<v Speaker 1>Operation Warp Speed formally described as a public private partnership,

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<v Speaker 1>but I was hoping you might just unpack this a little.

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<v Speaker 1>What is it exactly and how is it structured. Operation

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<v Speaker 1>Warp Speed is a combination of a number of different

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<v Speaker 1>government agencies that have come together, predominantly h h S,

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<v Speaker 1>the Health and Human Services Division of the Administration, and

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<v Speaker 1>the Department of Defense. So I think one of the

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<v Speaker 1>more interesting things we've uncovered in our reporting is just

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<v Speaker 1>how heavily involved the military is in the entire operation.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's basically a coming together of a variety of

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<v Speaker 1>different parts of the government that might typically be involved

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<v Speaker 1>in pandemic planning, but not necessarily in the sway. The

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<v Speaker 1>US government doesn't typically help build supply chains for vaccines

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<v Speaker 1>from scratch, but there's some expertise there within the government

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<v Speaker 1>that comes from the from the military that Operation Warp

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<v Speaker 1>Speed is drawing on to make this vaccine possible should

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<v Speaker 1>any of these vaccine candidates prove successful in combat and coronavirus. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>there have been many accusations that the Trump administration has

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<v Speaker 1>mismanaged the pandemic, perhaps with the exception being Operation Warp Speed.

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<v Speaker 1>And what, in your opinion do you think has led

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<v Speaker 1>to this, what has made this program work well? One

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<v Speaker 1>person said to me, which really stuck with me, was

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<v Speaker 1>that Warp Speed really plays to Trump's strengths that he

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<v Speaker 1>likes to manufacture things, that he likes to leverage his

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<v Speaker 1>relationships within the business world, and that's where Operation Warp

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<v Speaker 1>Speed really comes together. So well, it's definitely a conglomerate

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<v Speaker 1>of different entities of the US government. The active and

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<v Speaker 1>the actual execution here is coming from the companies themselves,

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<v Speaker 1>and so the government has given out billions and billions

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<v Speaker 1>of dollars of contracts to these companies, Companies like Maderna,

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<v Speaker 1>companies like Astra, Zeneca, J and J. They're large companies

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<v Speaker 1>that are recipients of Operation Warp Speed money that they're

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<v Speaker 1>using to help offset the costs of these very expensive,

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<v Speaker 1>large trials that they need to do to prove the

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<v Speaker 1>vaccine is safe. So so in some sense that part

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<v Speaker 1>of it plays to Trump's strengths, and another another part

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<v Speaker 1>of it is very very good people have been appointed

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<v Speaker 1>to the extent that months of SLOUGHI, who is a

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<v Speaker 1>vaccine executive at Glaxo Smith client who spent years working

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<v Speaker 1>on vaccines for public health crises, is running this operation.

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<v Speaker 1>Having his expertise someone like him has been really pivotal.

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<v Speaker 1>And there are also very high level people within the

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<v Speaker 1>military who have done a lot of logistics and operational

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<v Speaker 1>support in major endeavors in the past. And so this

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<v Speaker 1>combination of bringing in top talent in some of these

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<v Speaker 1>very niche areas and this idea that Trump really liked,

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<v Speaker 1>this company driven a approach made Operation work Speed that's

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<v Speaker 1>very unique, somewhat potentially positive outlier in the broader federal

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<v Speaker 1>government response to COVID. And so let's get into perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>the most public element right now of Operation Warp Speed,

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<v Speaker 1>that is with vaccine development. How exactly has Operation Warp

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<v Speaker 1>Speed been involved with choosing and of course supporting some

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<v Speaker 1>of the various coronavirus vaccine candidates. One of the principal

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<v Speaker 1>things Operation Warp Speed has done has given They've given

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of money to big companies to support big,

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<v Speaker 1>large scale trials, and you see some of the companies

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<v Speaker 1>doing six phase three trials. So the government has given

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<v Speaker 1>away a decent amount of money in that regard. The

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<v Speaker 1>other really interesting thing that we came upon was the

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<v Speaker 1>amount of work the government had been doing to really

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<v Speaker 1>help build the supply chain, so they have these They've

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<v Speaker 1>used the Defense Production Act much more so than we

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<v Speaker 1>initially realized, and and the way it works. As a company.

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<v Speaker 1>We talked to one small supplier of a type of

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<v Speaker 1>vial who said they had a power outage at their

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<v Speaker 1>supplier in Chicago in the middle of the summer and

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<v Speaker 1>they didn't know how much that was going to slow

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<v Speaker 1>them down, and so they brought this letter to the

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<v Speaker 1>head of legal affairs at the energy company who turned

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<v Speaker 1>the lights on. That was it. They just prioritize that

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<v Speaker 1>plan so that the work could get done to get

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<v Speaker 1>the vials produced to continue to the supply chain that

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<v Speaker 1>underpins the production of a vaccine would be up and running.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's been very interesting. I've been told that the

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<v Speaker 1>Army Corps of Engineers comes in and gets involved when needed.

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<v Speaker 1>They connects thedite permits. UH. The one of the main

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<v Speaker 1>companies we focused on was Emergent because their contract manufacturer

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<v Speaker 1>and they're working with J and J Astra and they've

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<v Speaker 1>worked with Novavax so that's a big component of the

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<v Speaker 1>whole Warp Speed production capacity. It's it's half of the

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<v Speaker 1>known companies right now that are working on vaccines are

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<v Speaker 1>working with Emergent and so in emergence case, they had

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<v Speaker 1>prop pieces uh supply um parts duck in Sweden and

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<v Speaker 1>basically the government got involved and lo and behold they

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<v Speaker 1>were able to expedite supply items that might not have

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<v Speaker 1>arrived until November December, and they got them in August.

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<v Speaker 1>So they're making vaccines right now. Whether or not we

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<v Speaker 1>end up getting those vaccines are going to depend on

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<v Speaker 1>the science, but the government's very much backing the production

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<v Speaker 1>of vaccines so that the supply is there. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>it's a big bet on at least being ready. If

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<v Speaker 1>one of these vaccines is successful. What happens in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of distribution. How will Operation warp Speed be involved with

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<v Speaker 1>if a vaccine is approved distributing it throughout the US.

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<v Speaker 1>Operation warp Speed is saying right now they are ready

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<v Speaker 1>so that a vaccine can start to be distributed within

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<v Speaker 1>twenty four hours of approval, which is quite rapid. They're

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<v Speaker 1>working with McKesson and some large pharmacy chains in order

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<v Speaker 1>to make sure that's possible. They're going to be tracking

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<v Speaker 1>as far as I understand the dosage so that people

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<v Speaker 1>are notified. Any of these vaccines are two dose, so

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<v Speaker 1>they're going to be notifying people if they need to

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<v Speaker 1>get their second dose of a given vaccine. They have

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<v Speaker 1>a legacy computer system from the c d C that

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<v Speaker 1>they're upgrading to make this sort of technology and tracking possible.

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<v Speaker 1>They're building the systems to be able to track utilization

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<v Speaker 1>and DOSA, be able to remind people if they need

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<v Speaker 1>to get a second dose. And they're very much focused.

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<v Speaker 1>They've been very public about this idea that they want

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<v Speaker 1>to make sure they reach all Americans, so they're going

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<v Speaker 1>to remote parts. They're trying to build the infrastructure so

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<v Speaker 1>that people in remote parts of the US, in maybe

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<v Speaker 1>rural America or islands, etcetera, are also able to get

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<v Speaker 1>the vaccine. There are no way focused on only making

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<v Speaker 1>this possible and the major metro centers where medical care

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<v Speaker 1>is obviously more abundant. So I'd say that's it also

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<v Speaker 1>been quite interesting to see how much attention has been

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<v Speaker 1>paid to that next leg of the journey. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>we're we're looking at a week of a presidential election,

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<v Speaker 1>and and we may have a new administration um starting,

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<v Speaker 1>So how might the outcome of the elected effect Operation

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<v Speaker 1>Warp Speed. How might a Biden administration otherwise affect the

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<v Speaker 1>course of the program. So your question about distribution really

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<v Speaker 1>hits on this because my understanding is that the bulk

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<v Speaker 1>of Operation Warp Speeds work, at least from the perspective

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<v Speaker 1>of them, getting the supply chain built up is going

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<v Speaker 1>to be done by January, where we to have a

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<v Speaker 1>new president inaugurated at that point. Uh, the next job

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<v Speaker 1>really after that is going to be disseminating this. I

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<v Speaker 1>don't think any of these vaccines are likely to be

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<v Speaker 1>rolling out until so it is really going to fall

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<v Speaker 1>to the Biden administration if he were to succeed in

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<v Speaker 1>the election. This week. He has said to us through

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<v Speaker 1>a spokesman that a Biden administration be fully committed to

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<v Speaker 1>Operation Warp Speed. And I'm sure that the Trump administration

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<v Speaker 1>would be fully committed to Warp Speed to given that's

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<v Speaker 1>been there. This whole thing has come together under the

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<v Speaker 1>Trump administration. So really, I think the question of distribution

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<v Speaker 1>is is going to be what's left the piece of this.

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<v Speaker 1>I think either administration is going to be dedicated to

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<v Speaker 1>that piece of it. But definitely there could be some turmoil.

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<v Speaker 1>There could be high level departures and different people are

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<v Speaker 1>going to have to take over and take up the helm.

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<v Speaker 1>But I could see that being the only disruption is,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, any personnel turnover, if anyone were to leave,

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<v Speaker 1>if there's a different outcome where Biden wins the election.

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<v Speaker 1>That was Cynthia Coons and that's it for our show today.

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<v Speaker 1>For coverage of the outbreak from one bureaus around the world,

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<v Speaker 1>visit Bloomberg dot com slash coronavirus and if you like

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<v Speaker 1>the show, please leave us a review and a rating

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<v Speaker 1>on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's the best way to

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<v Speaker 1>help more listeners find our global reporting. The Prognosis Daily

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<v Speaker 1>edition is produced by Top four heads Jordan Gospore, Magnus

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<v Speaker 1>Hendrickson and me Laura Carlson. Today's main story was reported

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<v Speaker 1>by Cynthia Coons. Original music by Leo Sidrin. Our editors

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<v Speaker 1>are Francesco Levi and Rick Shine. Francesco Levi is Bloomberg's

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<v Speaker 1>head of podcasts. Thanks for listening.