On Saturday Nov. 15th, Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released some Documents related to its “Operation Warp Speed” COVID-19 Vaccination Initiative.
Some, is a Ton of Documents, done while the inevitable End of Trump’s time in the White House, includes all kinds of Details about Billion Dollar Deals with Big Pharmaceutical Companies. One of those Details is that “customary protections against potential future price-gouging” aren’t in the Contracts.
Trump and his Team have been Manipulating Psychologically the Public with Confusing and Fact-Free Information about a Coronavirus Vaccine for Months. This has led to a very Real and very understandable Wariness on the part of most Americans concerning any Announcement by the Trump Administration about a Safe Vaccine.
HHS, through a Spokesperson, said "Operation Warp Speed has long publicly stated its commitment to being as transparent as possible.” And then that Spokesperson went on to Lie some more about how these Contracts are totally Fine. However, once again, the Issue here is that the Trump Administration has created a Program that is Not simply the Opposite of “transparent,” but consistently and deliberately created to Circumvent any traditional Oversight on the use of Taxpayer Funds.
Advanced Technology International is the Third-Party Contractor the Trump Administration has used throughout this Project. News Outlets like NPR and Democratic Senators like Elizabeth Warren have long Warned that the use of this Third-Party System was a Recipe for Corruption and Mismanagement of Resources.
Turns out, they have been 100% Right at every step. Since the Start of the Program earlier this year, Operation Warp Speed has been “issuing billions of dollars' Worth of Coronavirus Vaccine Contracts to Companies through the Unregulated Contractor.
While we all agree on the Necessity for our Country to Research and Produce a Safe and Effective Vaccine for the COVID-19 Pandemic as soon as is possible, it is clear that the Republican Pro-Market Strategy of letting Private Industry Profit from this Public Health Service is just a Smokescreen for Profiteering off a National Emergency. These Companies should Not need to Break the Country’s Bank to make this happen.
It is worth their while to Create a Vaccine as soon as possible because without one, everybody’s Economy goes down. But this Distribution System will Not benifit the Public, but Big Business.
The Contract for the Government's Purchase of Doses of Coronavirus Vaccine doesn't include the, March-in-Rights, that Allow the Government to Grant Patent Licenses to other Parties or to take Licenses for Themselves if they Helped Fund the Patent Owner's Research and Development, that are typical Planks in Contracts for Federally Funded Inventions. Instead, the Contracts allows a much Narrower Window for the Government to Step-In, excluding when COVID-19 Stops being a Public Health Emergency and becomes Endemic.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
