A Covid-19 vaccine may be widely available by April 2021, Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview with CBS News Wednesday.
Fauci said researchers should know by “November or December” whether some vaccines trials have a safe candidate and that even in the event that a safe candidate is determined, initial quantities will likely only be a few million doses.
Pushing back against an assertion made by the President that the US can expect 100 million doses by year’s end, Fauci said that the 100 million number is only possible if every vaccine candidate currently in trials is determined to be safe and effective. Even in the event that every tested vaccine is determined to be safe, the timeline for widespread vaccine administration would be toward the end of the first quarter of 2021, Fauci said.
Fauci said that the recent pause in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine trial should be a “good indication” that vaccine trials are working as they are intended to and protecting people’s safety. The trial was paused this week because of a possible adverse reaction in a volunteer.
“When that happens, we jump all over that,” Fauci said.
Fauci also discussed precautions needed as the United States heads into fall with increasing case numbers, telling people to “try and keep windows open” and “don’t be afraid to wear a mask in your house if you’re not certain that the persons in the house are negative.”