Coronavirus Pandemic

What's the Backup Plan If There's No COVID-19 Vaccine?

“I think we absolutely have to have a backup plan in place,” said Carl Bergstrom, a biologist at the University of Washington

At the press conference on July 21, 2020 in Sao Paulo, Brazil , Governor João Doria (PSDB) announces the beginning of the testing of the Chinese vaccine CORONAVAC in Brazilian volunteers at Hospital das Clínicas? SP. 20 thousand doses of the vaccine were destined for the Butantã Institute to fight the pandemic of the New Coronavirus (Covid19), according to the Government of São Paulo the forecast to make the vaccine available to the population should occur in the beginning of 2021. In the photo, Doria shows the vaccine .
Aloisio Mauricio/Fotoarena/Sipa USA via AP Images

Americans struggling through the worsening coronavirus outbreak got some rare good news this week as researchers delivered encouraging updates about potential vaccines. Even Dr. Anthony Fauci, whose gloomy warnings have frustrated President Donald Trump, has sounded consistently enthusiastic about the prospects.

It’s a heartening thought that even as the country has failed to contain the virus or implement the kinds of public health measures experts have called for, there’s a deus ex machina coming to rescue us if we can just hold out long enough.

But some experts are worried about Americans getting too used to the idea that a miracle vaccine or treatment is around the corner. While there’s broad agreement the latest news is promising, some are concerned that the prospect of future relief could breed complacency amid raging outbreaks that are killing hundreds of people each day.

“I think we absolutely have to have a backup plan in place,” Carl Bergstrom, a biologist at the University of Washington, said. “It's something that’s not talked about enough.”

For more on this story, go to NBC News.

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