WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump named a former pharmaceutical executive to lead his administration’s all-out effort to produce and distribute a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year.

Moncef Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive, will lead “Operation Warp Speed,” Trump’s push to accelerate the vaccine development process for COVID-19.

Slaoui is to serve in a volunteer capacity, and will be assisted by Army Gen. Gustave Perna, the commander of United States Army Materiel Command. 

The move comes as the president and White House aides hope to produce vaccines for the coronavirus faster than what many scientists believe is realistic.

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump named a former pharmaceutical executive to lead his administration’s all-out effort to produce and distribute a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Operation Warp Speed is &quot;a massive scientific, industrial, and logistical endeavor unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/dkfU3vPnnA">pic.twitter.com/dkfU3vPnnA</a></p>&mdash; The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1261354450259763200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>Moncef Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive, will lead “Operation Warp Speed,” Trump’s push to accelerate the vaccine development process for COVID-19.</p><p>Slaoui is to serve in a volunteer capacity, and will be assisted by Army Gen. Gustave Perna, the commander of United States Army Materiel Command. </p><p>The move comes as the president and White House aides hope to produce vaccines for the coronavirus faster than what many scientists believe is realistic.</p>

🎥 Trump names virus vaccine development team