Pauci: "COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Likely Not Long-Lasting... At Most Less Than One Year"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), stated that even if a vaccine for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is developed, its effectiveness will not last long. There are concerns that the vaccine's effectiveness could be as short as 3 months and at most less than a year, potentially requiring annual COVID-19 vaccinations.

According to U.S. local media such as The Washington Post (WP) and CNN, Fauci said in an online interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that "even if a COVID-19 vaccine is developed soon, it will not provide long-term immunity," adding, "Looking at the history and literature on coronaviruses, immunity to coronaviruses generally lasts about 3 to 6 months, and at most about 1 year."

However, he predicted that vaccine development itself is progressing rapidly and distribution could begin as early as the beginning of next year. Fauci said, "Since there are several vaccine candidates using different platforms, I cautiously remain optimistic that we will have a vaccine we can utilize," emphasizing, "We plan to produce about 100 million doses by November or December this year, and if deemed effective, we will distribute them quickly."

Fauci also revealed that the final phase 3 clinical trial of the vaccine candidate being developed in collaboration with the U.S. biotech company Moderna and NIAID will begin early next month. The phase 3 trial will be conducted on 30,000 participants not only in the U.S. but also in regions outside the U.S. Fauci added, "If all goes well, phase 3 trials will start in the first week of July," and "We want to collect data from as many sites as possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.