WASHINGTON – On his last day in office, President Donald Trump issued commendations to a number people for their contributions to Operation Warp Speed, a White House effort to distribute 300 million doses of a viable COVID-19 vaccine by January 2021, which by Jan. 19 had not been met.
A few names on the list of commendations stood out, particularly Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, both of whom were key members of the White House coronavirus task force in its early days, before having their public-facing roles diminished when the task force ceased providing regular briefings.