Trump official thinks coronavirus vaccine can be ready by the end of the year, citing early data


President Trump on Friday announced the appointment of two officials to a project focused on speeding up development of a coronavirus vaccine, with one expressing confidence over an optimistic end of 2020 timeline.
Trump on Friday said pharmaceutical conglomerate GlaxoSmithKline's former chair Moncef Slaoui and Army General Gustave Perna will head this Operation Warp Speed project. Some experts have described having a COVID-19 vaccine developed in 12 to 18 months as possible if efforts go smoothly, while others have described this timeline as overly optimistic.
In a Rose Garden press conference, Slaoui called the project's objectives "extremely challenging' but "credible," and he said that based on "early data" he's seen from a clinical trial, he feels "even more confident that we will be able to deliver a few hundred million doses of vaccine by the end of 2020. And we will do the best we can to do that."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, perviously said it's "doable" to have hundreds of millions of doses of a coronavirus vaccine ready by January, although he warned that this is only "if things fall in the right place." But on Thursday, Dr. Rick Bright, the ousted federal official and whistleblower who was leading coronavirus vaccine development, was far less confident in this timeline when he testified before Congress.
"A lot of optimism is swirling around a 12 to 18 month timeframe, if everything goes perfectly," Bright said. "We've never seen everything go perfectly. ... I still think 12 to 18 months is an aggressive schedule, and I think it's going to take longer than that to do so." Brendan Morrow
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailout
Talking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?
Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Crossword: October 5, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
-
Oregon sues to stop Trump military deployment
Speed Read The president wants to send the National Guard into Portland