Always on the alert throughout the current pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci lessened enthusiasm on Friday that an effective and approved coronavirus vaccine is only a few months away.
Instead, he said during an interview with Washington Post Journalist Bob Costa said Friday: “I think as we get closer to 2021, several months later, that I would have a vaccine that would be widely available to people in the United States.”
Image source: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Certain companies, including ambitious biotechnology Modern (NASDAQ: MRNA)They are making good time to put their vaccine candidates through clinical trials. However, Fauci, the high-profile director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, doubts that even efforts like Moderna’s will produce a vaccine that will be used in late 2020.
“I’m a little skeptical about that, but, you know, anything is possible,” he said.
Fauci’s skepticism is based on the processes that vaccines must undergo before going on the market, including extensive testing in phase 3 trials and regulatory review. Even when the latter is sped up, it can still be a cumbersome process.
Another problem is production; No matter how prepared a manufacturer is or how efficient its manufacturing partners are, it takes time to produce millions of doses of any vaccine or drug, especially if it is new.
On Tuesday, executives from Moderna and similar health companies AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN), Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) He testified at a Congressional hearing about his efforts to develop coronavirus vaccines. They expressed optimism that their vaccines could be ready by the end of 2020 or very early next year.
