First Coronavirus Vaccine Could Come to Market Early Next Year

KQED's Forum

KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2020

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Early tests show that a coronavirus vaccine from drug makers Pfizer and BioNTech could be 90 percent effective at preventing COVID-19, a disease that has now infected more than 10 million Americans and killed more than a million. While those results look promising, experts say the production and distribution of the vaccine -- which needs to be kept at negative 80 degrees Celsius -- will be complicated to say the least. Other challenges include convincing enough Americans to take the vaccine amid a climate of distrust and misinformation. Meanwhile, other drug makers are also pushing to bring vaccines to the market. We’ll talk about the status of a coronavirus vaccine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:31.6	When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and
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1:15.6	Coming up on Farm, is this the vaccine news we've been waiting for? Pfizer and Bioentech say they've developed a vaccine that appears to be 90% effective at preventing COVID-19.
1:22.6	But while the results are promising, state officials say it will take months for a vaccine to be widely available here, even if it's approved before the end of the year.
1:32.4	We look at the science behind the new vaccine and the challenge of convincing enough Californians to take it. Join us. This is Forum. I'm Mina Kim. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said this morning
2:02.8	that there could be enough doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to begin inoculating the general
2:09.2	public by next spring. The prediction is based in part on reports yesterday that Pfizer
2:14.8	and Bioentech have developed a vaccine that appears to have a 90%
2:20.3	efficacy rate with no serious safety concerns. But questions remain about how much protection
2:26.3	the vaccine actually provides and how easy it would be to get it to people. Joining me is Dr.
2:32.8	Peter Chin Hong, infectious disease specialist at
2:35.2	UCSF Medical Center. Thanks so much for joining us, Dr. Chin Hong. Thanks for having me on,
2:40.7	Mina. Also with us is Meg Terrell, senior health and science reporter for CNBC. Thanks for being
2:46.4	here as well, Meg Terrell. Oh, my pleasure. So Meg Terrell, I'll start with you. I mean, people are calling
	...

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