DETROIT – Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, addressed the question that so many people want answered: When will we have a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine?
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Fauci said he hopes to know by late fall or early winter if any of the vaccines currently in development will be successful. He said two of the biggest concerns remain making sure it’s safe and effective.
“There is no guarantee that the vaccine is actually going to be effective,” he said. “You can have everything that you think is in place and you don’t induce the kind of immune response that turns out to be protective and durably protective.”
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He said there may be multiple vaccines. Many of the vaccines are already being produced in hopes that they will be proven effective. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is looking forward to preventing potential shortages of syringes and other essentials.
“We’ve been leaning in on the supply chain to ensure that when a vaccine is ready to go we will have the necessary supplies to actually administer and operationalize the vaccination,” Fauci said.
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The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is also making plans on how a vaccine would be distributed. As of now, first priority would be given to health care workers and those in high risk groups.
State health officials are also talking through the logistics of how we would do mass vaccinations -- with the challenges of social distancing.