How long until a coronavirus vaccine is available? ‘Hopefully’ within 2 years, CDC says
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It could take two years to develop a vaccine to treat the strain of coronavirus that has killed thousands in China and is spreading around the globe, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield told a congressional hearing on Thursday.
Redfield stressed during the hearing in front of a House of Representatives Foreign Affairs subcommittee that containing the virus is essential because many hospitals are already operating near capacity during an active flu season.
There have been 14 confirmed cases in the U.S., according to the CDC, and 445 people tested. There are an additional 45 cases among people repatriated to the U.S.
“Hopefully in the not-too-distant future, in a year, year and a half, two years, we’ll have a vaccine,” Redfield testified.
President Trump said Wednesday that professionals were “rapidly developing a vaccine.”
“The vaccine is coming along well,” Trump said. “And in speaking to the doctors, we think this is something that we can develop fairly rapidly, a vaccine for the future, and coordinate with the support of our partners.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Alaz Azar caused a stir Wednesday when he testified that once a coronavirus vaccine becomes available, the Trump administration would not cap its price. He would not guarantee that it would be affordable for all Americans.
“We would want to ensure that we work to make it affordable, but we can’t control that price because we need the private sector to invest. ... Price controls won’t get us there,” Azar testified at a House Appropriations Committee hearing.
The House Foreign Affairs subcommittee meeting was scheduled more than a week ago, but it happened to be the day after health officials learned that a Solano County resident receiving care at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento tested positive for coronavirus. It represents the first confirmed case of the virus in the U.S. that is of unknown origin.
McClatchy White House reporter Francesca Chambers contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 3:26 PM with the headline "How long until a coronavirus vaccine is available? ‘Hopefully’ within 2 years, CDC says."
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