Operation Warp Speed: The Untold Story of the COVID-19 Vaccine

Scalise Jostles Jordan • The Great Gretzky • Bearing Witness From Gaza [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( Operation Warp Speed: The Untold Story of the COVID-19 Vaccine Good morning from the Hive newsroom! If there was one smart move Donald Trump made during the COVID-19 crisis, it was launching Operation Warp Speed. That’s according to Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera’s forthcoming book, The Big Fail, which [chronicles]( how a team of intrepid scientists and pharma executives banded together—with the help of the White House—to deliver the nation’s first coronavirus vaccine. “I was surprised that we didn’t get a lot of political interference,” says one exec. “That was my major concern.” Elsewhere, Joe Pompeo [commends]( journalists in Gaza for putting their lives on the line to help the world bear witness to the devastation from the Israel-Hamas war. Meanwhile in Washington, Abigail Tracy [delivers]( a dispatch from the House, where Representative Steve Scalise recently beat out Jim Jordan in his bid to replace Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. Plus: Zooming out to sports, Tom Kludt [chats]( with hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky, who talks about the NHL’s seismic growth and his career as a studio analyst on TNT. “I don’t think hockey’s ever been in a stronger position than it is right now,” he says. Thanks for reading. [Operation Warp Speed: The Untold Story of the COVID-19 Vaccine]( By [Joe Nocera and Bethany McLean]( [How an unlikely group of scientists, generals, and government officials supercharged the effort to get us back to some kind of normal.]( [Read more button](   [Sealed Off and Under Siege, Gaza Journalists Bear Witness for the World]( By [Joe Pompeo]( [“As I drove around, it felt as if there had been an earthquake,” writes the BBC’s Gaza correspondent, Rushdi Abu Alouf, who describes his reporting this week from a decimated neighborhood as “the most difficult seven hours of my life.”]( [Read more button](   [Steve Scalise, GOP’s Pick for Speaker, Still Has a Floor Fight Ahead]( By [Abigail Tracy]( [The Louisiana representative topped Ohio’s Jim Jordan in the party’s secret ballot, setting the stage for a full House vote.]( [Read more button](   [Wayne Gretzky, Hockey’s GOAT, Is Still the Sport’s Biggest Booster: “Everybody Has to Be an Ambassador”]( By [Tom Kludt]( [As he kicks off a new season from the TNT studio, the Great One gabs with Vanity Fair about getting encouragement from Charles Barkley, comparisons to Lionel Messi, and working alongside Spittin‘ Chiclets cohost Paul Bissonnette.]( [Read more button](   [George Santos Says He’s “Pretty Much” Denying Wild New Criminal Charges]( By [Bess Levin]( [Meanwhile, a group of New York Republicans are introducing a resolution to boot him from Congress.]( [Read more button](   Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn](   This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2023 Condé Nast