Two more Covid vaccine candidates are likely just around the corner, a development that would provide a much-needed boost to the US programme to vaccinate millions of its citizens, Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, has said.
A pair of vaccines from the drugmakers AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have wrapped up their clinical trials and could be cleared for use in the US within “a few weeks” pending the government review process, Dr Fauci said in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.
The drug companies’ own safety monitoring boards will first need to ensure the data from their clinical trials is sound and proves they have a safe, effective vaccine.
“Their data, I think very soon – I would imagine within a period of a week or so, or at the most a couple of weeks – they’re going to be getting their data together and showing it to the FDA,” Dr Fauci said.
The FDA will then make a quick, yet thorough, determination on the new vaccines’ emergency use.
“We’re weeks away, not months away. For sure,” Dr Fauci said.
