#Dr. Fauci warns coronavirus vaccine ‘might take some time’

White House coronavirus task force member Anthony Fauci says a vaccine that ends the coronavirus pandemic “might take some time,” despite promising developments.

The infectious disease expert said in prepared congressional testimony Tuesday that a COVID-19 vaccine “will be essential” to ending the pandemic, but that leaders aren’t expecting an imminent breakthrough.

Instead, Fauci said he urges the public to get a flu shot to “help conserve scarce medical resources” later this year.

“While it remains unclear how long the pandemic will last, COVID-19 activity will likely continue for some time,” he warned.

Fauci is the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In his prepared testimony for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, he describes progress on US-backed vaccine efforts.

Speaking to members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday, Fauci said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that vaccine distribution can begin by “the end of this calendar year and the beginning of 2021.”

“If you look at the history of viral diseases, it is generally vaccines that put the nail in the coffin of these types,” Fauci said.

In his prepared testimony, Fauci described progress on US-backed vaccine efforts.

The company Moderna is working with health officials “to launch a Phase 3 clinical trial as early as July 2020, pending positive results from this Phase 2 trial,” Fauci said.

Meanwhile, US health officials also are working with University of Oxford researchers on a vaccine candidate in Phase I/II trials, Fauci said, and with University of Washington scientists to research a possible candidate.

The government also is working “to disseminate rapidly a vaccine to the American people when one is available,” he said.

Since March, the virus has sickened more than 2.3 million Americans and killed about 120,000.

Despite progress, Fauci poured cold water on hopes that a vaccine will come quickly.

“The rigorous clinical testing required to establish vaccine safety and efficacy means that it might take some time for a licensed SARS-CoV-2 vaccine to be available to the general public,” Fauci said in his written remarks. “The COVID-19 response currently is focused on the proven public health practices of containment and mitigation.”