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Dr. Anthony Fauci has long warned against rushing a coronavirus vaccine, so it comes as no surprise that a previous timeline is “unlikely” in his latest comments. According to Fauci, it is not likely that a COVID-19 vaccine will be discovered by the 2020 presidential election on November 3.
“It’s unlikely we’ll have a definitive answer by the election,” Fauci said at the Research! America 2020 National Health Research Forum, via the New York Post.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump had said that a potential vaccine was coming along quickly and at a “speed like nobody’s seen before.”
“This could have taken two or three years. And instead it’s going to be done in a very short period of time. Could even have it during the month of October,” Trump said. “The vaccine will be very safe and very effective and it will be delivered very soon. You could have a very big surprise coming up.”
Experts, however, have a very different view.
The 74-year-old Fauci has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and one of the most respected voices during the coronavirus pandemic. Fauci, who has advised six presidents, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2008.
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 6.35 million confirmed cases and 190,000 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.
