Vaccines to prevent coronavirus infections are racing through development at unprecedented speeds. But scientists won’t know if the vaccines can prevent infection until April or May next year, said Dr. Mark Mulligan, director of the Vaccine Center at New York University’s Langone Health.
The first phrase of the trial will determine if it is safe, he said, which typically takes three to four months.
“That’s actually the most important first question and then we want to know if it’s tolerated well and if it produces an antibody response that might be protective after those first three or four months,” Mulligan said.
“You go onto the question does it protect, and that’ll take several months as well,” he added. “I do really think we’re talking about getting through to the end of the year and into early next year before we would have a definitive answer.”
President Donald Trump had said one would be available by December, then appeared to back off his claim this week.
There are more than 100 vaccines under development all over the world, according to the World Health Organization. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, has said it’s possible to have a coronavirus vaccine by January.
Meanwhile, an expert warned that life will look different for the next 12 to 18 months as we wait for a vaccine.
“I don’t think we’re all going to have to stay home for 12 to 18 months,” said epidemiologist Caitlin Rivers, a senior scholar and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “I think there will be a period where we are able to shift from everyone having to stay home to slow the spread, into these case based interventions.”
That means contact tracing and isolation and quarantine of people who could spread the virus.
As experts work to discover what treatment options may exist, a new study finds blood thinners could play a crucial role in treating seriously ill coronavirus patients.(CNN)