Overview

• The White House launched a $5 billion initiative to accelerate development of vaccines and treatments that provide more durable protection against COVID-19 variants.
• The program will focus on developing mucosal immunity vaccines, monoclonal antibodies with longer effectiveness, and pan-coronavirus vaccines.
• After facing repeated Congressional refusal for funding over the past year, the initiative is hoping to take a similar approach to Operation Warp Speed in partnering with private companies.
• The effort aims to tackle the challenges of waning public interest in current vaccines and the evolving nature of the virus.
• Republicans are expected to criticize the shifted funding from COVID testing and protective equipment.