No vaccine will be available for use by the start of the upcoming school year, usually, in August or September, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert tells the Senate.
“Even at the top speed we are going, we don’t see a vaccine playing in the ability of individuals to get back to school this term,” Anthony Fauci told a Senate committee Tuesday.
He said multiple clinical tests were ongoing, giving scientists a greater chance of success.
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He still stood by his earlier assessment of a 12-18 month horizon for a vaccine, noting developments got underway back in January.
Meanwhile, New York, the epicentre of the coronavirus crisis in the U.S. has unveiled plans to start reopening its economy in some upstate regions on Friday.
However, New York City is unlikely to see nonessential business resume until June at the earliest.
“We’re now on the other side of the mountain,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Monday at his daily news briefing.
He added: “Next step, how do we reopen? How do we reopen intelligently? And how do we reopen without taking a step back?”
As the number of coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. surpassed 80,000, the number of deaths in New York dipped to 161 and the number of new coronavirus infections to 488 in the last 24 hours, levels last seen in March, he said.
Cuomo’s statewide stay-at-home order ends Friday.
The state accounts for about a third of the Covid-19 deaths nationwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.