President Donald Trump named on Friday Moroccan-born doctor Moncef Slaoui chief scientist of “Operation Warp Speed”, a White House initiative aiming to quickly develop and distribute coronavirus vaccines.
Dr. Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive, is “a world-renowned immunologist who helped create 14 new vaccines in 10 years” during his time in the private sector, said President during his briefing at Rose Garden.
He is also “one of the most respected men in the world in the production and, really, on the formulation of vaccines”, added Mr. Trump seeking to speed up the vaccine development process for covid-19, by bringing in all the experts across the federal government.
“It’s a great honor and a privilege for me to have the opportunity to serve our country and the world in this remarkable endeavor — extraordinary endeavor — helping them and supporting them to do it”, said Mr. Slaoui, who has a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the Free University of Brussels (Université Libre de Bruxelles),
“The Operation Warp Speed’s objectives are very clear. I believe they are very credible and extremely challenging. However, I am really confident that our team across the many governmental agencies that are involved in these efforts, we’ll be able and we’ll do the utmost to deliver these objectives” said Doctor Slaoui.
“I have very recently seen early data from a clinical trial with a coronavirus vaccine. And this data made me feel even more confident that we will be able to deliver a few hundred million doses of vaccine by the end of 2020”, he added.
Joining Dr. Slaoui as Chief Operating Officer will be General Gus Perna, a four-star general who currently oversees 190,000 service members, civilians, and contractors as Commander of the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
The “Operation Warp Speed” is spearheaded by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, and involves officials from the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.
It aims to make 100 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine available by November, 200 million doses by December and 300 million doses by January.
It works independently from the existing White House coronavirus task force, which is also shifting its focus toward vaccine development.
Trump Announces Appointment of Moncef Slaoui Head of White House’s Operation Warp Speed
