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The United States government is willing to make a vaccine for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 widely available. According to The Wall Street Journal, the feds are hoping to make vaccines available for free by working with insurance companies without a copay.
“What we’re hoping is that every American will not only get a free vaccine distributed to many different outlets, but also will not have to pay for the administration of that vaccine,” Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at the Department of Health and Human Services, said.
There are currently six vaccines in development.
“We are going to be in a better place than anybody almost ever has been with a new vaccine where you already have a lot of doses, but you still have to be thoughtful about how to choose the priorities in the first few months, until we can immunize everybody,” said National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins.
When the vaccine becomes available, however, remains to be seen.
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The coronavirus mainly comes from animals and a majority of those who were infected early either worked at or frequently visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, according to The Guardian. The virus is similar to Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers).
The Wuhan coronavirus is transmitted from person to person through “droplet transmission.” That means an infected person can pass the virus by sneezing or coughing on another person as well as by direct contact.
While a majority of the cases have been detected in the United States and China — with more than 5 million confirmed cases and 163,000 deaths in the United States — it has now reached many countries around the world. It has also been confirmed in Italy, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and many other eastern countries.
