Doctor prepares to give patient a vaccination. Photo credit: GlobalMedia.

By Grace Boll

On Friday, Sept. 18, President Donald Trump claimed that there would be enough doses of coronavirus vaccine for every American by April 2021. Trump stated, during a press conference at the White House, that “hundreds of millions of doses will be available every month, and we expect to have enough vaccines for every American by April.” His statement contradicted the administration’s health officials, who have projected the country would not reach that point until mid-2021.

Vaccines created for viruses generally take between eight and ten months to develop. According to an article in The Conversation, a website for publishing news stories written by academics and researchers, there are several steps that need to be taken before a vaccine is fully developed and ready for use. First, scientists must have a basic understanding of the virus and how it affects the human body. Once scientists have studied the virus, they must “isolate the live virus before inactivating or weakening it and then determining whether this is a modified virus (known as a vaccine candidate).” During this step in the developmental stages of a vaccine, the researchers will most likely be able to determine the ideal dosage required for the vaccine to be successful in building an immunity. 

After the vaccine has been manufactured, it will go into the phase involving pre-clinical testing. It is probable that the testing will be carried out on animals before humans, to see what type of response the animals have to the vaccine. This is helpful to scientists, because some animals are known to generally have the same response as a human. Once the vaccine is deemed safe and effective, the clinical trials on humans are able to begin. Development of the immunization is crucial, because it determines whether the product is ready for regulatory approvals and production. This is often unsuccessful, because scientists must endure several tests “on a few dozen healthy volunteers, looking at how safe the vaccine is, and if it has any adverse effects; testing on several hundred people for efficacy (who are ideally the most at risk of the disease); and testing on several thousands of people for efficacy and safety.” If the volunteers have a successful immune response, the regulatory approvals are ready to take place. If the results of the regulatory approvals are satisfactory, then production can begin. 

COVID-19 is similar to influenza (flu). They are both contagious respiratory illnesses, but are caused by different viruses. The vaccine for the flu, discovered by Thomas Francis and Jonas Salk in 1938, involves fertilized chicken eggs. This is an example of a vaccine that has proved to be generally successful. The hope for America is that a vaccine will be found quickly and efficiently to halt the catastrophe that is COVID-19.

According to the New York Times, there are currently 44 COVID-19 vaccines in clinical trials on humans, and 92 pre-clinical vaccines being tested on animals. On October 7, there were 29 vaccines in phase one, testing safety and dosage; 14 vaccines in expanded safety trials in phase two; 11 vaccines in large-scale efficacy tests in phase three; five vaccines approved for early or limited use; and 0 approved for full use. 

In an article published on October 5 in USA Today, Dr. Paul Pottinger, an infectious disease professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, expressed that he is hopeful that there will be a safe immunization found. Pottinger does not believe that this will occur in the near future. “Remember, there is always that delay between when we know something is safe and effective and when it is then available to be generally deployed,” he said, “but there will not be a safe, generally effective, generally deployable vaccine any moment, I’m very confident of that.” 

CDC Director Robert Redfield believes that when there finally is a vaccine available for public use, only limited amounts will be available. During a press conference, Redfield stated that “the general American public will not be able to get it and get back to our regular life until next summer or fall.” On September 16 Trump disagreed with Redfield at a White House press conference, claiming that he had misspoken and that Redfield had “made a mistake…I think he misunderstood the question.” Redfield believes that “the coronavirus vaccine might not be widely available until next year and that face masks are a more effective way of fighting the disease.” Trump disagreed saying that he “got the impression that he didn’t realize he said what he might have said.” Trump claims that a vaccine could be developed much sooner than next year. Although sources are conflicted regarding when a vaccine will be available, the nation will be waiting in hopes of a solution and a return to some normalcy.