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FRIDAY, May 15, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A number of COVID-19 vaccines under development “look pretty promising” and one or two could be ready for large-scale testing by July, the director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health says.<\/p>\n
“Your big challenge now is to go big and everybody is about ready for that. And we want to be sure that happens in a coordinated way,” Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., told the Associated Press<\/i>. The NIH is working with some of the world’s largest drug makers to develop a master plan for vaccine makers to follow.<\/p>\n
Even though no vaccine has been developed, the Trump administration says it is aiming to have 300 million doses available to distribute to Americans by January, the AP<\/i> reported. That is a “very bold plan\u0085a stretch goal if there ever was one,” Collins said. But if “we can get this vaccine out there even a day sooner than otherwise we might have, that’s going to matter to somebody,” he told the AP<\/i>. Collins emphasized that “no corners are going to be cut” on safety as researchers rush to create a vaccine.<\/p>\n
About a dozen potential vaccines worldwide are in the initial stages of, or set to begin, testing in people, the AP<\/i> reported.<\/p>\n