https://amgreatness.com/2020/11/09/was-pfizers-vaccine-news-slow-walked-until-after-the-election/
As the coronavirus pandemic swept across the globe in the spring, President Trump announced his plan to fast-track an effective vaccine that would be available by the new year.
The goal of Operation Warp Speed, launched by the White House in May, was “to produce and deliver 300 million doses of safe and effective vaccines with the initial doses available by January 2021, as part of a broader strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.” Congress appropriated $10 billion to fund the ambitious program.
The president and his team spent months touting the success of the public-private partnership. Pfizer, one of five companies selected in June as a candidate with the best chance of meeting the president’s deadline, entered into a $1.95 billion contract with the federal government in July to purchase 100 million doses. The agreement was part of Operation Warp Speed, according to a company press release.
Operation Warp Speed not only involved the use of federal tax dollars but the elimination of government roadblocks that would ordinarily delay a new vaccine’s approval. Hundreds of federal rules and regulations were relaxed to help fight COVID-19 and hasten the private sector’s progress on treatments for the virus. The government’s lengthy, burdensome immunization approval process—which lasts an average of 73 months—was slashed to 14 months. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar promised his agency would “squeeze every last inefficiency” to achieve the president’s goal.
But just like every other aspect of coronavirus, the vaccine has been a political cudgel. Democrats, including Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, have fueled public distrust about the vaccine.