June 23, 2020
By: Staff Report
WASHINGTON – Dr. Fauci said on Tuesday that the US could have a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2020, and added that no one on the White House task force for the novel coronavirus had ever been asked by President Trump to slow testing efforts.
“The next couple of weeks are going to be critical in addressing those surges we’re seeing in Florida, in Texas, in Arizona” and other states, Fauci said. He also said that the country needed to “establish a system” to respond to future outbreaks.
Fauci told the panel that the National Institutes of Health was “mounting a major effort” in collaborating with public and private partners to conduct vaccine trials “that harmonize with each other.” He said multiple vaccines are being developed, and that one vaccine would enter phase three of testing in July.
“Although you can never guarantee, at all, the safety and efficacy of a vaccine until you actually test it in the field, we feel cautiously optimistic,” Fauci said. He expressed confidence that a vaccine could be ready by the end of this year or early 2021, saying “it’s when and not if.”