Along with everyone else in the world, President Trump wants a coronavirus vaccine now. The most optimistic time by which a coronavirus vaccine might be ready, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease specialist on the president’s coronavirus task force, is 12 to 18 months.
Or, if not now, then “prior to the end of the year,” as he said at the White House on Friday, which Moncef Slaoui, the drug company executive the president tapped to head the effort, called a “very credible” timetable. By historical standards, it is an extraordinarily ambitious goal. Some vaccines have taken a decade or longer to develop, test and manufacture. The most optimistic time by which a coronavirus vaccine might be ready, according to Dr.
Genetic engineering greatly speeds the process of developing a vaccine. But public health experts are still sorting through how to test it for safety and efficacy. The primary measure of safety, of course, is that a new vaccine doesn’t make people sick, which is easy enough to verify, although it would need to be tried in a large and diverse population to catch possibly rare side effects.
But Operation Warp Speed is proceeding along numerous tracks simultaneously: the genetic engineering of potential vaccines, testing in animals, trials in humans, and ramping up the production of the syringes, vials and other equipment necessary for mass inoculation. On Friday, Trump said “we’re gearing up” to begin manufacturing vaccines even before one is approved, so that there will be a stock on hand in advance. “That means they’d better come up with a good vaccine,” he said.
The first application she handled was for a sedative called thalidomide, which was used in the treatment of leprosy and was being marketed to prevent “morning sickness,” the nausea and vomiting that affects some women during pregnancy. The drug company presented data that it said proved its safety. It was already being sold over the counter in other countries.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Trump to ask Supreme Court to stop emoluments lawsuit claiming president profits unlawfully from D.C. hotelPresident Donald Trump will ask the Supreme Court to halt a lawsuit against him brought by the state of Maryland and Washington D.C. alleging that he has violated the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, his personal attorney said Thursday.
Read more »
Tax Return Cases: Why the Supreme Court Has to Pretend Trump Is a Normal PresidentThe Supreme Court has to pretend Trump is a normal president to lay down a marker for the future—even as the argument that this president can't be bothered with a burdensome legal process is something of a tough pill to swallow
Read more »
Rory McIlroy Says He Won't Golf With President Trump Again, 'Out Of Choice'Golf superstar Rory McIlroy says he's been REJECTING opportunities to play with President Trump 'out of choice' ... claiming he doesn't agree with 'anything' POTUS has been saying recently.
Read more »