All this chatter about a vaccine for COVID 19...by the end of the year.

[MineralMan]

13. Both the seasonal flu and COVID-19 are viral diseases.

We have a lot of experience creating vaccines for the influenza viruses, and less experience with coronaviruses. That is an issue. However considerable research was done on SARS and MERS, which were caused by a virus very similar to COVID-19. Vaccine development was well underway when those two potential epidemics faded out without becoming pandemics.

Our understanding of viral diseases and vaccines against them has advanced a great deal since the first flu vaccines were developed. We know more now.

There is a decent chance that one of the vaccine candidates will meet the safe and effective guidelines early enough to go into production sometime this year. It's far from certain, but there is a decent chance of that.

The testing process in humans will probably be accelerated beyond what is normal, with test subjects and control groups being people who are exposed to the virus, such as health care workers and others in facilities dealing with the disease. Fairly large test groups could probably be recruited among health care professionals, so results would be available fairly quickly, due to their exposure.

We'll see.