Trump hopes for COVID-19 vaccine by end of year, 'maybe before'
16 May, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump Friday said he hoped a COVID-19 vaccine would be available by the finish of the entire year, and announced he was appointing a former pharmaceutical executive to spearhead your time and effort.
"We want to obtain it by the finish of the entire year if we are able to, maybe before," Trump said, as he delivered an update on the race for a vaccine.
"We think we are going to have some positive results coming out rapidly," he told reporters in the Rose Garden of the White House.
The timeline projected by Trump is more optimistic than what Europe foresees.
The European Medicines Agency said Thursday a vaccine could be ready in a year's time under an "optimistic scenario."
Trump announced he would appoint Moncef Slaoui, the former head of GSK Vaccines, and four star army general Gustave Perna, to lead "Operation Warp Speed."
"My administration offers roughly $10 billion to support a medical research effort without parallel," the president said, comparing your time and effort with the Manhattan Project during World War 2 that resulted in the development of nuclear weapons.
Trump added that whenever a vaccine was ready the military will be enlisted to distribute it -- and evoked a spirit of global cooperation.
"We are working as well as many different countries, and again we've no ego," he said. "Whoever gets it, we think it is great, we will work with them and they are going to use us. If we get it, we'll be dealing with them."
Scientists have cautioned that it's possible that despite worldwide efforts, it's possible that a powerful vaccine may never be found -- or that some vaccines could backfire and make people more, not less, susceptible to infection.
Trump also sought to temper expectations.
"Again, it isn't solely vaccine based," he said. "Other activities haven't had a vaccine plus they go away. So I don't want people to believe this is all reliant on a vaccine, but a vaccine would be a tremendous thing."
Scientists have never previously developed an effective vaccine for any type of coronavirus that infects humans.
Efforts that were underway against the SARS coronavirus were halted early because that disease was contained after infecting about 8,000 people, and it had been therefore not judged profitable to pursue.
Vaccines do exist for animal coronaviruses, for example a kind of coronavirus that infects chickens -- which is employed by farmers.
However, in addition, it kills some percentage of chickens, and such an outcome would not be acceptable in humans.
Source: japantoday.com
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