Will There Be A Coronavirus Vaccine In 2020? Fauci Weighs In On Potential Treatment, Timeline

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday said he is confident a coronavirus vaccine will be available soon – the question is “when not if” – in testimony before a House committee.

Fauci appeared before the panel alongside Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Robert Redfield, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Assistant Health Secretary Adm. Brett Giroir.

Fauci said he’s cautiously optimistic about prospects of a vaccine being available by the end of the year under questioning by members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

“It will be when and not if,” Fauci said of questions about prospects for a vaccine.

Hahn said the FDA will reject pressure to approve a vaccine if it is not safe and effective.

“We must maintain regulatory independence and make the best decision for Americans,” Hahn said in saying his agency would not succumb to political pressure. He said “data and science will dictate” when a vaccine is approved.

Fauci, noting the U.S. still is in the midst of the first wave of the pandemic, said it is impossible to predict the mortality rate for the second half of 2020 and 2021.

“It’s impossible to give any projection,” Fauci said. “It will depend on so many factors.”

Fauci said it’s imperative the pandemic is brought under control before the fall when flu season starts.

“I have said multiple times publicly that we are still in the middle of the first wave. Before you start talking about a second wave, what we’d like to do is get this outbreak under control,” Fauci said.

The testimony came as the number of confirmed cases in the United States topped 2.3 million and the number of deaths approached 121,000. Case counts have been increasing steadily since states have started reopening their economies, with the daily case count hitting 30,000, a development Fauci called “disturbing.”

“The next couple of weeks are going to be critical in our ability to address those surges we are seeing in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and other states,” Fauci said, noting deaths from the virus have been dropping but it is too early to determine what that means.

Fauci urged younger Americans to exercise caution, noting that even though they are at lower risk of developing COVID-19, they could “innocently” infect someone who is more vulnerable.

Fauci said testing and contact tracing remain critical to containing the pandemic despite calls from President Trump to slow testing to reduce case counts. Fauci, CDC head Robert Redfield, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Surgeon General Jerome Adams told lawmakers they had never been ordered to slow testing.

“None of us have ever been told to slow down on testing. ... In fact, we will be doing more testing,” Fauci said.

Trump, however, told reporters he’s not kidding.