In a Tuesday interview with Breitbart , Mike Pence expressed his belief that a coronavirus vaccine may be developed before the end of 2020. The vice president noted that Moderna has moved into Phase 3 of clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine and touted Donald Trump’s approach to handling the pandemic and pushing vaccine development.
“What I’ve been told is that is an unprecedented pace,” Pence said. “Usually, vaccines literally take years and years and years to develop.”
The vice president claimed that the Trump administration began funding work on a vaccine in February immediately after the National Institutes of Health provided the novel coronavirus’ genetic code. According to Pence, the development process consists of “half a dozen companies” being paid by America to create vaccines on a fast-tracked schedule that does not compromise safety. He claimed that at the end of the process, the country will have “literally have tens of millions of doses” for people around the country.
“We’re going to keep driving relentlessly to have a safe and effective vaccine, I hope, and I believe, before the end of this year.”
Trump also recently addressed the timeline for a vaccine. As reported by CNBC , the president said on Monday that such a preparation could be ready before the end of 2020 or by early 2021.
“We’re balancing speed and safety and we’re on pace to have a vaccine available this year, maybe far in advance of the end of the year.”
As reported by BBC , the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, recently noted that multiple vaccines had entered Phase 3 of their clinical trials. Nevertheless, he appeared to take the opposite approach as Pence and expressed skepticism about the future of COVID-19 vaccination.
“However, there is no silver bullet at the moment, and there might never be,” he said.
Ghebreyesus said that countries should continue controlling the virus via testing, isolating, and treating individuals who have contracted the virus. He highlighted the importance of tracing and quarantining those who have come into contact with infected individuals. In addition, he stressed the importance of social distancing, mask-wearing, and hand-washing.
As The Inquisitr reported, Moderna’s vaccine, mRNA-1273, has thus far been found to be safe and generally well-tolerated across the two small-scale clinical trials that have studied it. Nevertheless, Dr. Larry Corey, a virologist with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute in Seattle, expressed skepticism that the vaccine could be provided to Americans before the end of 2020. However, he stopped short of ruling out the possibility.
