Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, raised the possibility that Americans might have to wait until early next year for a coronavirus vaccine.
"We are on target to reach a vaccine by year's end or early next year," said Hahn, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. "So, I'm cautiously optimistic.”
Hahn made his comments during a Thursday interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
The Daily Mail noted he did not specify if he was referencing when the vaccine would be finished with development and approved by the FDA.
“We will eventually get beyond this pandemic,” Hahn said. “We have a lot of therapeutics. We have vaccines in the pipeline. The FDA has given authorization to proceed with clinical trials for four separate vaccines. And we’ve seen a number of vaccine developers come forward — double digit numbers.
“We have a lot of different shots on goals with respect to the vaccines. That’s good news.”
Hahn’s timetable for a vaccine appears to match the expectations of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci has said he was “cautiously optimistic” that at least one vaccine could be available by the end of the year or the beginning of 2021.