Warp Speed

Inside the Operation That Beat COVID, the Critics, and the Odds

By: Paul Mango

Narrated by: Chris Abell

Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

A powerful story of how our nation’s leaders overcame the odds, saving the American people from the throes of a deadly pandemic

The prior record for vaccine development and distribution was approximately four-and-a-half years. Operation Warp Speed got the COVID-19 vaccine to the American people in less than ten months. Operation Warp Speed did not happen by accident. It was the result of exceptional leadership, explicit strategy, and unprecedented teamwork.

Author Paul Mango, one of the key leaders of Operation Warp Speed and the former deputy chief of US Health and Human Services, chronicles the challenges of developing the vaccine. In this harrowing, behind-the-scenes account of the most successful public-private partnership since World War II, we learn how the nation’s biggest leaders accomplished the impossible. Through sheer will and commitment, a small group of leaders fulfilled its mission, making the United States the only country in the world which could offer a vaccine to any citizen by April 2021, scarcely fourteen months after the genetic identification of the virus.

©2022 Paul Mango (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

A detailed , and insightful, overview of Operation Warp Speed

Paul Mango does an incredible job of detailing the amount of time , expertise, and thought that went into Operation Warp Speed. The Covid Pandemic was politicized in many ways, and as an outsider looking in I found it extremely interesting to learn about the people largely responsible for bringing a vaccine to the American people.

I also really appreciated the consistent theme Paul used , and his mindset. Both of which centered around “getting the job done without cutting corners” and “putting trust in the experts.” To lead an initiative during a period such as the Covid Pandemic takes passion and courage. Both of which I believe were demonstrated throughout by every service man and woman who comprised Operation Warp Speed.

I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the effort, strategies and people largely responsible for bringing a safe and effective vaccine for Covid 19 into reality.

Extremely political

This is my first two-star rated book, despite me promising that I wouldn’t allow myself to waste time on a two-star level book. In full transparency, I only finished the book because someone I know recommended it after meeting the author as part of a leadership meeting a few weeks back. I was all for checking it out because I love a good COVID-related book, but this one was extremely political. So much so that it was distracting from the overall topic of Operation Warp Speed, the public-private partnership initiated by the US government in 2020 to facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, & distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.

Save your time, and opt for “Moonshot” by Dr. Albert Bourla instead if you want to hear some truly fascinating stories about the development of the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine.