The Department of Defense (DoD) has unveiled an initiative that seeks to expedite the procurement of a COVID-19 vaccine by January 2021.
DoD said Friday that it will collaborate with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the private sector to manufacture around 300 vaccines by January as part of the Operation Warp Speed effort. Gen. Gustave Perna, commander at Army Materiel Command, has been tapped to co-lead the project.
Jonathan Rath Hoffman, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs at DoD, said the Pentagon is in talks with the governments of Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia in line with plans to increase the number of the department's workforce.
Hoffman added USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort concluded their work at Los Angeles and New York and are on standby for future assignments.
