Shutterstock
The timeline for a COVID-19 vaccine has fluctuated throughout the pandemic, but now one pharmaceutical giant is claiming his company will be ready to mass distribute a vaccine by the end of the year.
On Tuesday, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla revealed to shareholders on a Q3 earnings call that the company will be able to provide 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine by 2021.
There will also be additional information about the vaccine scheduled to come out in the coming weeks, according to CNBC.
President Donald Trump has previously said a coronavirus vaccine would be complete and ready to distribute by the November 3 election. While that will not prove to be true, there is no doubt that researchers and companies are working hard to develop a vaccine in a timely manner.
Hopefully, by the time January 1, 2021, comes around, we will be confident that life will return to normal sooner rather than later with a vaccine widely available.
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 8.46 million confirmed cases and 223,000 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.
