Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic

by Scott Gottlieb

Operation Warp Speed was a bright spot: one of the greatest public health achievements in modern times. The unprecedented research effort helped to deliver safe and effective vaccines and to secure new efficiencies in manufacturing.23 The Trump administration deserves credit for helping to facilitate that accomplishment, which will eventually end the pandemic. The success of Operation Warp Speed proved what government can accomplish when it functions well, to improve our preparedness and protect the nation. Other parts of the system were unable to deliver a more synchronized and effective response.24 We wouldn’t have been able to prevent a US epidemic, but with better preparation, better alignment, better leadership, and better engagement of our tools of public health, we could have delayed its onset and reduced its scope and severity.