‘Warp Speed’ Officials Debut Plan for Distributing Free Vaccines

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• Federal health officials outline preparations to distribute a vaccine when its ready.

His statements appeared to soften previous statements from Mr. Trump highlighting the role of the military. Opinion polls have shown that many Americans are already hesitant about taking a vaccine that is seen to have been rushed to market by the federal government for political reasons.

“We have the military all lined up, and the military is going to be doing it in a very powerful manner,” Mr. Trump said at an event in July.

Mr. Mango also said that although the details were still being worked out, the government was aiming to provide the vaccines at no out-of-pocket cost to Americans. All of the companies that are closest to bringing a vaccine to market have reached billion-dollar deals with the federal government either to help them develop their candidate or to buy the doses for distribution to the public.

The government is also working on setting up a database that would seek to sort out the complicated process of immunizing potentially millions of Americans and keeping track of when they needed a second dose, and of which vaccine.

Army Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski said Operation Warp Speed was working to link up existing databases so that, for example, a patient who received a vaccine at a public health center in January could go to a CVS pharmacy 28 days later in another state and be assured of getting the second dose of the right vaccine.

Three drug makers are testing vaccine candidates in late-stage trials in the United States. One of those companies, Pfizer, has said that it could apply for emergency authorization as early as October, while the other two, Moderna and AstraZeneca, have said they hope to have something before the end of the year.

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