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United States President Donald Trump claimed that the country has already procured two million vaccine doses for the coronavirus disease that are “ready to go” if they “check out for safety,” according to media reports.
During a news conference from theWhite House, Trump said on Friday: “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.”
“In fact, we are ready to go in terms of transportation and logistics. We have over two million ready to go if it checks out for safety,” he added.
According to The New York Times , the Trump administration has shortlisted five companies that could most likely develop a vaccine for the coronavirus disease.
“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,” he said.
He didn’t mention which amongst them had started vaccine production.
The National Institutes of Health has accelerated its work in collaboration with biotech firm Moderna on a potential vaccine to prevent Covid-19.
Earlier this week, White House health advisor Dr Anthony Fauci said there were at least four trials of potential vaccines that he is either directly or indirectly involved in.
Fauci said by the beginning of 2021 “we hope to have” a couple of million doses.
Researchers have fast-tracked the development of vaccine candidates by investing in multiple stages of research.
Trump maintained on Friday that officials “understand the disease now.”
However, according to a Hindustan Times report, scientists have said they still cannot construe the kernel of the virus, including how immune systems respond once someone is exposed to it.
The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the US is over 1.87 million, and around 108,120 people have been killed so far, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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