Professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine Peter Hotez told CNN that a vaccine for the coronavirus won’t be largely available to the public until Summer 2021, contradicting the statement made by President Trump earlier today that a vaccine could be available by Election Day.
National School of Tropical Medicine Dean PETER HOTEZ says he does not expect enough safety data on a coronavirus vaccine to be available for wide public release until the third quarter of 2021.
“I put it at third quarter of 2021, we’ve heard Dr. Fauci say maybe Q1, maybe Q2" pic.twitter.com/r8OlvaqARN
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) August 6, 2020
Noting that his team is working on a vaccine, Hotez said that any vaccine would have to go through extensive safety testing before it would be widely dispensed. He called his estimation “conservative.”
Trump told radio host and Fox “News” contributor Geraldo Rivera that he believes a vaccine may be available by November 3rd, which is coincidentally Election Day or “possible before.” Trump is not a scientist nor a doctor, but his uncle *was* a professor at MIT.
Hotez noted that while his estimate is for next summer, others such as Dr. Anthony Fauci have estimated a vaccine could be available by next spring, which would still be long after Trump’s Election Day estimate.