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Pfizer may be closing in on its coronavirus vaccine. According to comments made by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the vaccine could be ready by the end of the year.
According to Fauci, the vaccine has proven to be 90 percent effective throughout testing.
“We may have doses that we are able to give to people by the end of November, the beginning of December, probably well into December,” Fauci said, according to the New York Post.
“Again, you have to go through the hoops of making sure all of the Is are dotted and the Ts are crossed about the safety and the regulatory aspects of it, but we would be giving vaccine to people very likely before the end of this year. That is good news.”
The 74-year-old Fauci has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and one of the most respected voices during the coronavirus pandemic.
Fauci, who has advised six presidents, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2008.
The coronavirus mainly comes from animals and a majority of those who were infected early either worked at or frequently visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, according to The Guardian. The virus is similar to Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers).
The Wuhan coronavirus is transmitted from person to person through “droplet transmission.” That means an infected person can pass the virus by sneezing or coughing on another person as well as by direct contact.
While a majority of the cases have been detected in the United States and China — with more than 9.28 million confirmed cases and 231,000 deaths in the United States — it has now reached many countries around the world. It has also been confirmed in Italy, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and many other eastern countries.
