Operation Warp Speed Adviser Predicts A COVID-19 Vaccine By Mid-December

Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientific adviser for Operation Warp Speed, says that some Americans could start receiving a COVID-19 vaccine by the second week of December.

Slaoui's comments follow the announcement on Friday that Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech, have asked the Food and Drug Administration to grant an emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine — which has been found to be 95% effective. A second vaccine from the biotech company Moderna is expected to be submitted for emergency authorization soon as well.

The delay in the presidential transition process won't impact the work of Operation Warp Speed, the public-private partnership to develop coronavirus vaccines, the operation's chief adviser said Sunday.

"Frankly, the operation has been isolated from, from the administration, from the political environment and the political context," Moncef Slaoui said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We worked very hard to make sure that’s the case. And therefore, all decisions are made, the train is running, whether one administration or the other doesn’t, frankly, make a difference. I hope there is no...