As the world continues to battle with coronavirus pandemic, US President Donald Trump informed that tremendous progress is being made on vaccines, according to a report by The New York Times.
The publication mentioned, President Donald Trump said that the US has already produced two million vaccine doses for COVID-19 that are “ready to go” if they “check out for safety”.
During a news conference from the White House, Trump was reported saying, “We had a meeting on vaccines yesterday. We are doing incredibly well. We can have some very positive surprises. Tremendous progress is being made on vaccines.”
Trump, however, did not indicate which vaccine candidate he was referring to, or from which specific company or companies, Americans can expect widespread inoculation. He also did not mention a timeline for the same. Trump added that "likewise, we are doing very well with therapeutics. Cures we are doing well."
According to a New York Times report, the Trump administration has identified five companies that are most likely to produce a vaccine and will aid in speeding the process.
“And the nice part is that four companies, you could even say seven or eight companies, that are doing some very similar and some very different on the vaccine front. And, some similar and somewhat different on the therapeutic front,” Trump said during the press meet.
Contrary to what the scientists have been saying so far, Trump said that the officials “understand the disease now.”
Shortly after, US’s top epidemiologist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNBC that he could not comment as he was not familiar with the President’s remarks. Fauci said that by the beginning of 2021 “we hope to have” a couple of million doses.
Johns Hopkins University notes that as of now, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US stands at 1.87 million, and 108,120 people have been killed so far.
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