May 11, 2020–Dr. Anthony Fauci and other health experts suggest that more than one vaccine may be needed to effectively combat the COVID-19 pandemic due to production limitations and overwhelming demand.
Fauci co-authored a paper published in the journal Science on Monday, suggesting that demand for an effective coronavirus vaccine is likely to exceed supplies of any single vaccine.
He wrote the paper with Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center’s Dr. Larry Corey and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins and vaccine expert Dr. John Mascola.
“There is an unprecedented need to manufacture and distribute enough safe and effective vaccine to immunize an extraordinarily large number of individuals,” the paper states. “No single vaccine or vaccine platform alone is likely to meet the global need, and so a strategic approach to the multi-pronged endeavor is absolutely critical.”
While several vaccines for the virus are currently in development, scientists have cautioned that developing even a single effective vaccine presents a significant challenge. The delay between developing vaccines and making them available to the public is often years, although officials hope that a coronavirus vaccine will be available record time.