FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021 file photo, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, chief science adviser to Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. effort to rapidly develop COVID-19 vaccines, speaks during a news conference in Washington. On Wednesday, March 24, 2021, GlaxoSmithKline said Slaoui has been fired as chair of a medical research company over sexual harassment allegations. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)The former chief science adviser for the U.S. effort to rapidly develop COVID-19 vaccines has been fired from the board of directors of a medical research company over sexual harassment allegations, drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline said Wednesday. Slaoui served as chief science adviser to Operation Warp Speed, which was launched under the Trump administration to develop vaccines and treatments for COVID-19. GlaxoSmithKline said its investigation began after it received a letter in February outlining the allegations of “sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct."

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus has eclipsed 400,000 in the waning hours in office for President Donald Trump, whose handling of the crisis has been judged by public health experts to be a singular failure. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus eclipsed 400,000 on Tuesday in the waning hours in office for President Donald Trump, whose handling of the crisis has been judged by public health experts a singular failure. It is just short of the estimated 409,000 Americans who died in 2019 of strokes, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, flu and pneumonia combined. The first known deaths from the virus in the U.S. were in early February 2020, both of them in Santa Clara County, California. While the count is based on figures supplied by government agencies around the world, the real death toll is believed to be significantly higher, in part because of inadequate testing and cases inaccurately attributed to other causes early on.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as well as Department of Defense officials provided an update on Operation Warp Speed and COVID-19 vaccine distribution efforts on Wednesday. The briefing was scheduled for 12:00 p.m

(Youngrae Kim/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)WASHINGTON – Pfizer said Wednesday it will supply the U.S. government with an additional 100 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine under a new agreement between the pharmaceutical giant and the Trump administration. The government also has an option to purchase an additional 400 million doses. The cost to taxpayers: $1.95 billion for the additional 100 million doses. To aid vaccine production, the government said it is using its authority under a Cold War-era law that allows it to direct private manufacturing. The government began shipping the Pfizer vaccine to states last week, and the one from Moderna this week.

Moderna’s vaccine comes under the umbrella of the government’s own effort, which is called Operation Warp Speed. That public-private endeavor was designed to have millions of vaccine doses ready and available to ship once a shot received FDA approval. Earlier, U.S. officials had said they were discussing the purchase of another 100 million doses of Pfizer vaccine for delivery as early as the middle of next year. Operation Warp Speed has financed the development, manufacture and distribution of millions of doses, with the goal of providing a free vaccine to any American who wants one. Operation Warp Speed is on track to have about 40 million doses of vaccine by the end of this month, of which about 20 million would be allocated for first vaccinations.

Vice President Mike Pence receives a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shot at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, in Washington. Conspicuously absent: President Donald Trump, who has remained largely out of sight five days into the largest vaccination campaign in the nation’s history. Trump did appear at a White House “summit” ahead of the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the Pfizer vaccine last week. “Don’t let Joe Biden take credit for the vaccines,” Trump has told reporters. “It simply isn’t good enough to have Vice President Pence as a proxy."

Operation Warp Speed has financed the development, manufacture and distribution of millions of doses, with the goal of providing a free vaccine to any American who wants one. Pfizer was not as closely involved with Operation Warp Speed as other manufacturers, preferring to retain control over its own development and manufacturing. But the government did enter into a contract to buy 100 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the first of which were shipped this week. At issue is the purchase of another 100 million doses for delivery as early as the middle of next year. “We of course would welcome having another 100 million doses,” said Slaoui, adding that it's his expectation that negotiations with Pfizer will be successful.

Watch an Operation Warp Speed briefing with officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the Department of Defense.

President Trump gave an update on Operation Warp Speed on Tuesday afternoon. He is scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. during an Operation Warp Speed Vaccine Summit.

Trump led Tuesday's White House event celebrating “Operation Warp Speed,” his administration's effort to produce and distribute safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19. Pfizer developed its vaccine outside of “Operation Warp Speed,” but is partnering with the federal government on manufacturing and distribution. Trump administration officials insist that such plans have been developed, with the bulk of the work falling to states and local governments to ensure their most vulnerable populations are vaccinated first. The Food and Drug Administration’s panel of outside vaccine experts is to meet Thursday to conduct a final review of the Pfizer vaccine, and it will meet later this month on the Moderna version. Plans call for distributing and then administering about 40 million doses of the two companies’ vaccines by the end of the year — with the first doses shipping within hours of FDA clearance.

The military theme originated in the May 15 announcement of the creation of Operation Warp Speed. “We will defeat the enemy.”But it has been Trump, not Perna, who has miscast the military's role. Trump said in his initial announcement the military would “deploy every plane, truck and soldier required" to distribute a vaccine when ready. “There will not be this vision that some people have that there will be Army trucks driving through the streets delivering vaccine,” Perna said Oct. 27. The prominence of military officials in Operation Warp Speed has drawn scrutiny on Capitol Hill, where some have questioned whether an outsize military leadership role would marginalize public health agencies.

President Donald Trump delivered an update on Operation Warp Speed, the effort to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, on Friday. President Trump gives an update on COVID-19 vaccine President Donald Trump delivers an update on Operation Warp Speed, the effort to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Posted by WSLS 10 / WSLS.com on Friday, November 13, 2020No vaccine has been formally approved, but Trump said one could be available to the general public as soon as April. According to the president, Pfizer is set to provide 100 million doses with the option to buy 600 million more. As of Monday, Trump said Pfizer’s vaccine was 90% effective.

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)WASHINGTON – The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):9 p.m.Republicans will have at least 203 seats in the next House, giving them enough wins to assure that Democrats will have fewer members next year. Democrats went into Election Day with a 232-197 House advantage, plus an independent and five open seats. ___2:10 p.m.President Donald Trump is like a “heavyweight champion in the final round of fighting,” television commentator Geraldo Rivera says after chatting with Trump on the phone. The White House says President Donald Trump will make remarks Friday on Operation Warp Speed, the multi-agency effort to get a vaccine to the public quickly and safely. Trump has avoided public gatherings since Election Day and has declined to concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden.

The top executives of nine drugmakers likely to produce the first vaccines against the new coronavirus signed an unprecedented pledge meant to boost public confidence in any approved vaccines. Meanwhile, public health officials have expressed doubt that adequate data on vaccine safety and effectiveness would be available before November. BioNTech has partnered with Pfizer on one of the three vaccines now in the final round of human testing. Last week, the Merck and Pfizer CEOs joined chief executives of three other companies that are testing COVID-19 drugs and vaccines to pledge that they wont seek even emergency approval without solid results in final stage human testing. They added that extra transparency on testing results and the approval process is needed.

WASHINGTON The White House says President Donald Trump will visit North Carolina on Monday to tour a business that is participating in work on a COVID-19 vaccine. The White House said Trump is expected to speak about the collaboration between the administration and the private sector to rapidly develop a vaccine and ensure rapid distribution once ready. North Carolina is a key battleground state in the coming election, and Trumps visit marks his 10th trip to the state during his presidency. The biotechnology facility Trump will visit is the FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies Innovation Center in Morrisville, a suburb of Raleigh. The White House said the company is manufacturing key components of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate being developed by Novavax, an American vaccine development company based in Maryland.

Following are developments Tuesday related to the national and global response, the work place and the spread of the virus. ________________________FOOD & SHOPPING: Overall retail sales are expected to fall this year, but theres one bright spot: online shopping. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has received $450 million through Operation Warp Speed to make and supply its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, REGN-COV2. REGN-COV2 is currently in two Phase 2/3 clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19 and in a Phase 3 trial for the prevention of COVID-19 infection. The EPA said that it expects to approve such claims for additional products in the coming weeks.