Operation Warp Speed: A Legal Analysis of the Vaccine Development Process and How We Got Here

Abstract The COVID-19 Pandemic created a need for a vaccine that would need to be rapidly created, tested and approved in order to reduce the pandemic’s tremendous impact on human life and the economy. This article discusses the vaccine development process as well as Operation Warp Speed, the United States plan for emergency vaccine development in a pandemic situation. Written before the approval of the currently available COVID-19 vaccines, this article also discusses the implications of a speedier vaccine development process as well as recommendations to the standard process.