Creating and distributing a Covid vaccine in under a year was more than a medical achievement. It was a triumph of American greatness and leadership.
P resident Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. He did something no one thought would be possible with Operation Warp Speed. He bent an infamously slow-moving bureaucracy to his will, creating public-private partnerships to develop, approve, and distribute the Covid vaccine in under a year. Vaccines can take a decade to develop. When America was in the eye of the storm, people were dying, and society shut down, Operation Warp Speed was nothing short of miraculous.
Under President Trump’s direction, the U.S. government mobilized the public and private sectors at a record pace to identify vaccine candidates, fund development, purchase doses in advance, and streamline the regulatory process — all without sacrificing safety. It was less than eleven months between the discovery of the virus and bringing the vaccine to market.
While others shut down in fear, President Trump focused on solutions. While others hesitated, he acted. The result? The fastest rollout of a vaccine in history. The variable in that was President Trump’s leadership.
Although many Americans tragically died from Covid, millions more are alive today thanks to Operation Warp Speed. Additionally, life went back to normal: Schools reopened, small businesses rebounded, families reunited, and our economy recovered from one of the most severe economic downturns in modern history.
President Trump’s success is even more impressive when viewed in a global context. Take China, for example. From the very beginning, the Chinese Communist Party staged a cover-up of the initial Covid outbreak. It delayed sharing critical information about the virus’s transmissibility and lied to the world about its origin. The utter lack of transparency by the Chinese Communist Party does not stop there. Its reported Covid death toll is so implausibly low that independent analysts and international health experts have debunked the claims.
China’s Covid response showed the world what failure looked like. Even the most draconian lockdowns couldn’t stop the spread of Covid. Liberal enclaves like New York that shut down their cities had some of the highest Covid deaths at the height of the pandemic. The only thing that could stop this pandemic was a vaccine. President Trump delivered. He gave Americans the choice to protect themselves, their families, and their communities.
One of the key takeaways from the Covid pandemic is just how quickly an uncontrolled and infectious disease can become a global pandemic. The Chinese Communist Party could militarily and economically incapacitate the world by releasing a new virus. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we now have a blueprint for a rapid-response vaccine platform that can pivot instantly to meet future public health threats.
Operation Warp Speed was more than a medical achievement. It was a triumph of American greatness and leadership. It was the type of success that reminds us why the president of the United States is the leader of the free world. It changed the course of a historic pandemic. It stopped millions of Americans from dying and saved millions more globally. The Nobel Peace Prize has been given for much less. The next one should go to President Trump.
Bill Cassidy represents Louisiana in the U.S. Senate. John Barrasso represents Wyoming in the U.S. Senate.