The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the United States, Anthony Fauci, is one of the visible faces in the team who advises the White House in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Specialized in immunology and an expert in rheumatology, the doctor expressed his confidence that scientists could find an effective vaccine for the coronavirus in the early winter, that is, by the end of 2020.
In his presentation to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Work, and Pensions, he indicated that the multiple clinical trials are currently underway, and the initial results of these trials should be known in December.
"We have many candidates working on a vaccine and we hope to have multiple winners," he said, warning that relaxing the restrictive measures may result in "really serious" consequences.
"My concern is that we start to see small spikes that could become outbreaks in areas, cities, or states that ignore controls and open prematurely, without having the ability to respond effectively and efficiently," Fauci said.
For the expert, “there is a real risk of triggering an outbreak that you may not be able to control, which, in fact, paradoxically, will delay you, not only causing suffering and deaths that could be avoided but even taking time to obtain economic recovery "
Around 35 companies and academic institutions are searching for a vaccine, two of which are in phase 1 clinical trials and more than 40 are in preclinical development.
Some have started testing on animals, while biotech company Moderna has already started human trials with a potential vaccine.
Still, experts predict that it will take approximately 18 months for an antidote to become widely available against SARS-CoV-2, which as of press time had infected more than 4.3 million people and killed more than 298,000 in all over the world.
European estimate
A day after Fauci's remarks, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) called it "optimistic" to give him a year of the vaccine's appearance.
"If everything goes as planned, there is a possibility that some vaccines will be ready to be approved within a year," said the agency's director of strategy, Marco Cavaleri.
"This would be at best. We know that vaccines in development may not be licensed and disappear. We also assume that there may be delays, "said the doctor specializing in pharmacology.
Asked about the availability of the inoculation method, Cavaleri stressed that the EMA "will guarantee (that) all European citizens" have it.
"We have reason to be optimistic that the vaccines are coming. I would be surprised if we did not find a vaccine against Coronavirus, "he said.
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