Dr. Fauci Says A Coronavirus Vaccine Will Be ‘Widely Available’ In 2021, But Only After ‘Several Months’

Many medical experts and pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. have been claiming that as soon as 2021 begins, they will be ready with ample doses of an effective coronavirus vaccine to battle the pandemic.

But as per Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert and the director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, while a coronavirus vaccine will be “widely available” in 2021, it won’t happen before several months into the year.

During a Washington Post live question-and-answer session, Fauci shared that even though the virus has claimed the lives of more than 144,500 Americans, it is still relatively new for scientists to decode its behavior correctly.

“It is likely that at the beginning of next year we would have tens of millions of doses available,” Fauci said. “I think as we get into 2021, several months in, that you would have vaccines that would be widely available.”

“We are only six months into the outbreak,” he added. “Since we are only six months into it, we don’t know how long [antibodies] last in most of the people. But the fact is ... that there are some people where antibodies only last a short period of time. We need to know what that means.”

“Again, we are learning as the weeks and months go by, but we don’t have all the information that we need,” he continued.

While Fauci stressed that more information is needed to find out how potent the vaccine would have to be in comparison to the type of protection provided by the immune system, the Trump administration has assured that at least 300 million vaccine doses will be ready by January.

Companies like Pfizer have claimed that it has cemented a $1.95 billion contract with the U.S. government and is already manufacturing its most promising vaccine candidates. AstraZeneca, Moderna and countless other companies have boasted about the promising results of their vaccine, hinting that they will be ready with a promising batch by the time 2021 begins.

Fauci also reflected upon the possibility of reopening schools, which he thinks is a decision best left to each community.

“It depends on where you are,” Fauci said. “We live in a very large country that is geographically and demographically diverse and certainly different in the extent to which there is COVID virus activity.”