Dr. Anthony Fauci is noting that it is not out of the realm of possibility for the United States to have a vaccine by October.
CNN’s Jim Sciutto asked Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on Thursday if he has seen any evidence to suggest the timeline for a workable vaccine could be moved up.
“I think most of the people feel it’s going to be November, December, but that does not mean that if there are a number of infections within a particular trial that allows you to make a decision sooner rather than later,” Fauci said.
He added, “It is conceivable that you could have it by October, though I don’t think that that’s likely.”
Sciutto went on to question Fauci about the role of politics in the development of a vaccine. He asked him if Americans should be concerned, it is affecting the timeline for a vaccine.
“I don’t think so,” Fauci said.
He added, “The FDA has been very explicit that they are going to make a decision based on the data as it comes in.”
Watch his comments below:
“It is conceivable that you could have it by October, though I don't think that that's likely,” Dr. Anthony Fauci tells @jimsciutto about a coronavirus vaccine as CDC documents say states should prepare to distribute vaccines as soon as late October. https://t.co/hVC9nZv9pr pic.twitter.com/XRZJqv16pY
— CNN (@CNN) September 3, 2020
Fauci reiterated Americans can feel confident the data will be “examined appropriately” and a decision will be made from those findings.
He told Sciutto he would not “hesitate for a moment” to take a vaccine himself if it is proven safe and effective, and he would also be willing to recommend it to his family.
Fauci’s remarks come just one week after Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, penned a letter to governors calling on them to assist the agency with speeding up applications for vaccine distribution sites, as IJR previously reported.
Redfield requested governors make this possible so the distribution sites will be ready by Nov. 1.