Fauci: Covid-19 Vaccine Expected By End Of Year Or Early Next Year
The long-awaited vaccine to protect against Covid-19 is expected to become widely available by year-end 2020 or in the early months of 2021.
Speaking to a House panel, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, told lawmakers “it’s a matter of when, not if.” Scientists across the globe have been scrambling to develop a safe and workable vaccine against the virus, which has killed hundreds of thousands and destroyed economies across the globe.
A vaccine developed by pharmaceutical company Moderna is beginning a Phase 3 study of the efficacy and safety of a Covid-19 vaccine their scientists have created in July. The study will include 30,000 participants. Several other drug companies are developing their own vaccines at historic, breakneck speeds.
It takes years to develop the average vaccine. A vaccine against Ebola was created in what was then considered historic timing; it took five years to put together. Now, companies are doing what usually takes years in several months.
Health experts are focusing on creating a vaccine that works for people in high-risk categories first, so they are not including children in their vaccine studies. Because of this, when a vaccine becomes available, it will likely only be administered to individuals in certain age and health categories, rather than simply given to everyone.
Future studies will test the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine on populations less at risk to suffer from severe Covid-19 symptoms.
