On June 5, 2020, the Operation Warp Speed (OWSVI) had chosen 5 vaccine candidates: Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Pfizer, the first three having already received $2.2 billion in federal funding. [1, 2] Former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb, and Pfizer board member, pointed out Sanofi and Novavax were absent from the list. Paul Offit also questions "the lack of diversity in the five selected vaccines, which rely on just three different technologies." An unnamed source connected to the selection process said “It’s been so chaotic, and it’s not even transparent to those of us who are trying to help out.” "The move appeared to signal that Warp Speed had changed its initial plan of doing comparative studies of 14 vaccines it said last month that it had singled out from the more than 100 candidates in development at companies and universities."
