CRS Insight – Operation Warp Speed Contracts for COVID-19 Vaccines and Ancillary Vaccination Materials, December 22, 2020: “Operation Warp Speed (OWS) is an interagency partnership between the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) that coordinates federal efforts to accelerate the development, acquisition, and distribution of COVID-19 medical countermeasures. Collaborating HHS components include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Although the stated goals of OWS include therapeutics and diagnostics, most of the money awarded to date has focused on vaccines. This Insight summarizes OWS’s vaccine-related contracts, including those for ancillary vaccination materials (e.g., needles and vials)…BARDA is currently supporting seven vaccine candidates through funding research and development, funding increases in manufacturing capacity, and/or advance purchase contracts. Of these candidates, only six are also being supported by OWS (Merck/IAVI is supported by BARDA, but not OWS)…The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine received Emergency Use Authorization(EUA) from theFDA on December 11, 2020, and the Moderna vaccine received similar approval status on December 18, 2020. Distribution of these two vaccines has thus begun according to guidelines approved by the CDC. Because OWS has purchased these vaccines, all doses are to be federally owned and provided at no cost to the American public…”