Although volunteers received the first dose of an experimental coronavirus vaccine Monday, experts are still describing the test as an early step in a series of studies needed to determine whether the shots are a viable and safe option, according to the Associated Press. Forty-five volunteers between 18 and 55 years old are scheduled to get two doses of the vaccination a month apart in an effort led by scientists at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute in Seattle. “We’re team coronavirus now,” study leader Dr. Lisa Jackson told the AP Sunday. “Everyone wants to do what they can in this emergency.”
At a news conference Monday, President Donald Trump bragged about how quickly work on a vaccine had progressed. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Chinese scientists unveiled the virus’ genetic sequence only 65 days ago, possibly setting a record for developing a vaccine for testing, according to the AP. That potentially record-setting vaccination wouldn’t, however, be ready for public use on a wide scale for 12 to 18 months, Fauci has contended.
“You might recall when we first started I said it would be two to three months, and if we did that that would be the fastest we’ve ever gone from obtaining the sequence to being able to do a phase one trial,” Fauci said. “This has been now 65 days, which I believe is the record.”
The vaccine’s timeline is one of several areas the president has been a bit fuzzy on over time. Fauci had to interrupt Trump at a March 2 press conference when he attempted to lay out a months-long timeline, according to The Washington Post. “Would you make sure you get the president the information that a vaccine that you make and start testing in a year is not a vaccine that’s deployable,” Fauci said. “So he’s asking the question, ‘When is it going to be deployable?’ And that is going to be, at the earliest, a year to a year and a half, no matter how fast you go.”
There were 4,226 coronavirus cases in the United States with 75 deaths resulting as of Tuesday afternoon, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported, and several hundred new cases are popping up each day. Fighting the virus, which has spread most substantially in California, New York, and Washington, has been complicated because people infected with it can be asymptomatic. Even if a coronavirus vaccine was developed in 12 months, that would still represent an unprecedented time table, according to The New Yorker. The fastest vaccination developed to date was created in response to the Zika virus in 2015, the magazine reported.
Jennifer Haller, a 43-year-old Seattle mother who signed up to be one of the U.S. study’s early volunteers, told the Associated Press her teenagers “think it’s cool” she’s participating in the research. She said she was “feeling great” after receiving her injection. Neal Browning, a 46-year-old volunteer who works as a Microsoft network engineer in Washington, also said his young daughters are proud of him. “Every parent wants their children to look up to them,” he told the AP.
RELATED: 'Only for the United States': Trump allegedly tries to secure coronavirus vaccine exclusively
Watch the latest coronavirus task force update at a press conference Tuesday: