In this May 4, 2020 photo provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the first patient enrolled in the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine clinical trial of Pfizer at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, he receives an injection.
University of Maryland School of Medicine | AP
US health officials and drug makers hope to begin producing possible doses of the coronavirus vaccine by the end of the summer, a senior administration official said Monday.
The United States aims to deliver 300 million doses of a vaccine for Covid-19 in early 2021. The manufacturing process is already underway although they are unsure which vaccine, if any, will work, senior officials said. Trump administration officials told reporters. A conference call on Monday. He said they are already buying equipment, securing manufacturing sites and, in some cases, purchasing raw materials.
“Exactly when will the vaccine materials be in production and manufacturing? They will probably be missing in four to six weeks,” the official said in the call, which was received by the Department of Health and Human Services. “But we will be actively manufacturing by the end of the summer.”
Due to the pandemic, US health officials and researchers have accelerated the development of vaccine candidates by investing in multiple stages of research, although doing so could be in vain if the vaccine is not effective or safe.
U.S. health officials have previously said they are speeding up the manufacturing process to ensure they can market a vaccine right away once they identify one that works.
The Trump administration has selected four possible vaccines as the most likely candidates, but the senior official said Monday that that list could grow. Among the list are vaccines from the biotech firm Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. The two companies are expected to begin late-stage human testing for possible vaccines later this month. It’s a record time frame produce a vaccine, even when scientists say there is no guarantee that vaccines will be effective.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly touted the “tremendous progress” in vaccine development, calling the Operation Warp Speed project, as coronavirus cases in the United States continue to rise.
The United States has reported more than 3.3 million Covid-19 cases and at least 135,205 deaths as of Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. As of Sunday, cases grew 5% or more in 37 states and also in Washington, DC, according to CNBC data analysis. The new cases hit a record daily average of 59,100 on Sunday, according to a seven-day average that smooths out fluctuations in daily reporting gaps.
Many state and local officials across the United States have criticized Trump and the administration, saying they lacked a strong and coordinated response.
Last month, the Trump administration said the vaccine will be provided free of charge to Americans who cannot afford it.
Scientists are still learning about key aspects of the virus, including the response of the immune system once a person is exposed. They say the answers may have important implications for vaccine development, including how quickly it can be deployed to the public.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of Trump’s coronavirus task force, said he is concerned about the “durability” of a possible vaccine, saying there is a possibility that it will not provide immunity. long-term. .
If Covid-19 acts like other coronaviruses, “it probably won’t be a long-lasting immunity,” Fauci said during a June 2 interview with JAMA editor Howard Bauchner.
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