The White House's vision of revamping Operation Warp Speed, a Trump-era program that was geared toward accelerating the approval process for COVID-19 vaccines and therapies, has failed to pick up, Politico reported Oct. 5.
The plan, coined Project Covid Shield, was introduced months ago with the aim to propel therapy candidates through the regulatory approval process faster, according to Politico.
But between dwindling COVID-19 funds and President Joe Biden's remark that the pandemic "is not where it was," the project has not invested much in vaccine candidates for future potential outbreaks.
"The notion we're going to sit on the sidelines and watch other nations build this stuff should be totally anathema to us," Ashish Jha, MD, White House COVID-19 response coordinator, told Politico. "I think of this very much as a biosecurity issue as well as a pandemic preparedness issue."
In July, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci, MD, pointed to nasal vaccines and universal vaccines as the next step in COVID-19 efforts. Nasal vaccines are years away from being commercially available in the U.S., but China and India have already approved nasal COVID-19 vaccines, according to Nature.
The only authorized COVID-19 preexposure prophylaxis treatment seems to be waning in its efficacy as the virus mutates, indicating a need for more COVID-19 therapy developments. But, Dr. Jha told Politico, "Our toolbox is dry because every company in America understands the U.S. government does not have funding to do this."