As the search for a COVID-19 vaccine continues with several promising candidates, hope of a quick end to the pandemic is hitting a snag with the possibility of new rules for drugmakers that could slow down the process.
A new Washington Post report notes the tougher rules by the Food and Drug Administration that would make the target date of a pre-election vaccine nearly impossible.
Specifically, a requirement that the drug companies monitor volunteers who are testing these drugs for about two months after they get their second dose of the potential vaccine.
The FDA has yet to confirm the report, but tells ABC News it plans to issue additional guidance shortly.
"I think the question is how many of these vaccines will work and that determines how many doses we have," White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said Tuesday. "So that is really the question right now. We have on paper enough vaccine to immunize everyone. The question is will all six candidates work."
Birx made the comments after touring the FUJIFILM laboratory with Texas A&M University officials, where a vaccine is being developed.
Johnson & Johnson has announced they've started accepting volunteers for the last stage of testing for their potential vaccine. Four other drugmakers are also in the final stretch.
Health authorities already report that more 200,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, a tall and tragic number that the country hurdled on Tuesday.
"After we walked through the vaccine development manufacturing facility out there, [Birx] commented, 'I had no idea this existed out here'," said Texas A&M Health Science Center COO Greg Hartman. "It was really good for her to see that."
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