Warp Speed: Inside the Operation That Beat COVID, the Critics, and the Odds

by Paul Mango, Tom Cotton (Foreword)

A powerful story of how our nation’s leaders overcame the odds, saving the American people from the throes of a deadly pandemic. The prior record for vaccine development and distribution was approximately 4.5 years. Operation Warp Speed got the COVID-19 vaccine to the American people in less than 10 months. Operation Warp Speed did not happen by accident. It was the result of exceptional leadership, explicit strategy, and unprecedented teamwork. Author Paul Mango, the foremost leader of Operation Warp Speed and the former deputy chief of US Health and Human Services, chronicles the challenges and real dangers of developing the vaccine. From the beginning, two lead scientists, Dr. Moncef Slaoui and Dr. Debra Birx, fought head to head on which vaccines had the greatest probability of success. Tensions grew as the Army Materiel Command and the Center for Disease Control debated on whether public health agencies or the private sector would take over vaccine distribution. Mango details the largest hurdle for the Operation Warp Speed team: though Pfizer, the first distribution company to deliver the mRNA vaccine, sought aid from the Federal Government, they refused the government’s request to oversee safe manufacturing of the vaccine, eventually leading to a major scandal as Pfizer missed its contractual obligation to deliver 40 million doses by the end of 2020, the number of positive cases reaching a frightening peak all the while. In this harrowing, behind-the-scenes account of the most successful public-private partnership since World War II, we learn how the nation’s biggest leaders accomplished the impossible. Through sheer will and exceptional commitment, a small group of leaders fulfilled its mission, making the United States the only country in the world which could offer a vaccine to any citizen by April 2021, scarcely 14 months after the genetic identification of the virus.

Genres: History

234 pages, Hardcover

Published June 14, 2022

About the author

Paul Mango was an American healthcare executive, former government official, and author. He was best known for his role as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) during the 2016 Trump administration, where he was a key figure in Operation Warp Speed, the initiative to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and published a book about the subject. Mango's career spanned healthcare consulting, government service, and military service, and he was recognized for his contributions to public health policy and healthcare reform.

Reviews

[Vicki J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my first two-star rated book, despite me promising that I wouldn’t allow myself to waste time on a two-star level book. In full transparency, I only finished the book because someone I know recommended it after meeting the author as part of a leadership meeting a few weeks back. I was all for checking it out because I love a good COVID-related book, but this one was extremely political. So much so that it was distracting from the overall topic of Operation Warp Speed, the public-private partnership initiated by the US government in 2020 to facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, & distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.

Save your time, and opt for “Moonshot” by Dr. Albert Bourla instead if you want to hear some truly amazing stories about the development of the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine.

[Jeff Bobin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Waste of money!

If your looking for a self aggrandizing cheerleading by a political hack you are in the right place.

If you are looking for science, statistics, or financial information you will be disappointed. This is just another book out of the Trump administration that wants you to believe they were the only good people doing work, in or outside the Warp Speed group.

There was so much that could have been told that is completely left out of what I believe must be an amazing story that involved more than a bunch of political appointees that couldn't get along with anyone else including others in their field.

[Bill McGrath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. All I can say is this book sets the record straight on what was, prior to the advent and success of Operation Warp Speed, something considered nearly impossible to achieve….development, approval, distribution, and ultimately administering vaccines capable of saving millions of lives in less than 12 months time. AMAZING! Terrific effort by all involved. Great leadership from Trump and his administration. I, having worked in the pharmaceutical industry , and in particular, pharma biologics (vaccines) at a-major drug company for more than 26 years, I understand the work and years of trials prior to launching any drug. Man, great public / private partnership in getting the job done under incredible strains of a deadly pandemic. Very well written and factual book. Kudos to all.

[Ronaele Whittington, D.S.W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive overview of massive undertaking

I thought Warp Speed was a clever title for Federal actions during the pandemic. I had no idea about the moving parts that were sorted, planned, and implemented by key people from government and industry. This book enlightened me with details and citations. Lessons learned offer guidance for future management of crises.

[Dorothy J. Petrancosta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read

Knowing this author made it easier to trust his perspectives. I suspect there will be many who will believe the contents are just the biased perspective of a conservative Republican, to whom I will respond "I dissent"

[Karen Farnham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read more to understand teamwork and delivery of vaccine in such a short amount of time. I thought there were a lot of concepts repeated - often wondered, didn’t I just read that? Great accomplishment (vaccine) - not so great book.

[Trevor Carlsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful. Paul presents the key players and outlines how they came together to accomplish their goal.

[Zaki · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an important book. Absolutely incredible. The people at the Department of Defense (D.O.D.) had very little time, and worked more than 80 hours a week non-stop for many months until they were able to get a COVID-19 vaccine, and supply it throughout the United States.

I want everybody involved with the Warp Speed program, to get a fucking medal. And not Trump, because he's not the true person who created this program (Trump is illiterate). Everybody on Warp Speed deserves a bonus.

The top Project Managers who worked on this project saved our country, and millions of lives.

There should be a fucking documentary, and a fucking movie about this.