President Donald Trump is doubling down on his claim that Americans could see a vaccine for the novel coronavirus by the end of the year.
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President Donald Trump is doubling down on his claim that Americans could see a vaccine for the novel coronavirus by the end of the year.
«Another essential pillar of our strategy to keep America open is the development of effective treatments and vaccines as quickly as possible. I want to see if we can do that very quickly,» Trump said Friday at an event to highlight his administration’s effort to expedite a vaccine, dubbed «Operation Warp Speed.» «When I say ‘quickly,’ we’re looking to get it by the end of the year if we can. Maybe before.»
But the Trump administration’s own medical and scientific experts leading the race to develop a vaccine routinely cast doubt on that timeline.
On Friday, the president tapped Moncef Slaoui, a former pharmaceutical executive, to lead Operation Warp Speed. Even he concedes the goal is formidable.
«Frankly,12-18 months is already a very aggressive timeline,» Slaoui, the former CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, said in an interview with The New York Times. He said he was in agreement with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, about the challenge that timeline poses.
Still, Slaoui, the former CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, did say mass producing a vaccine by January 2021 is a «credible objective.» Slaoui maintained he would not have agreed to head up the White House’s effort if he did not think Trump’s goals were attainable.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, Fauci has frequently cited the 12- to 18-month timeline. He delivered a reality check at a Senate hearing Tuesday when he said having a vaccine for the start of the next school year is not possible.
«Even at the top speed we’re going, we don’t see a vaccine playing in the ability of individuals to get back to school this term,» Fauci said.
But when Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, pressed Fauci on the likelihood of developing a vaccine within in a year or two, Fauci was said it’s «not a long shot.»
«I think it’s clearly much more likely than not that somewhere within that time frame we will get a vaccine for this virus,» he said.
But Dr. Rick Bright, the former head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, emphasized to the House Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Health Thursday that such a timeline would be unprecedented.
