Licensed vaccine only by year end at earliest, says expert

Professor Wang Linfa, director of the programme in emerging infectious diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School, said people tend to confuse a candidate vaccine and a vaccine available for people to use, which takes time for clinical trials to be complete
Professor Wang Linfa, director of the programme in emerging infectious diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School, said people tend to confuse a candidate vaccine and a vaccine available for people to use, which takes time for clinical trials to be completed. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
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Despite claims that a vaccine against the new coronavirus will be available soon, the earliest realistic timeframe for a licensed vaccine will be the year end, says Professor Wang Linfa. And that is if everything goes well.

Prof Wang, director of the programme in emerging infectious diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School, said people tend to confuse a candidate vaccine and a vaccine available for people to use.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 29, 2020, with the headline Licensed vaccine only by year end at earliest, says expert. Subscribe