Secretary Azar Details Search For COVID-19 Vaccine
Sonora, CA — In an exclusive interview with Clarke Broadcasting, US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar provided an update on clinical trials underway in the search for vaccines to fight COVID-19.
Secretary Azar is today’s KVML Newsmaker of the Day.
“We are making incredible progress,” he says.
Citing what is being dubbed by the Trump Administration as “Operation Warp Speed,” Azar notes, “We’re bringing the entire power of the US government, its financial resources, and our private and public sector together, to develop these vaccines. We now have six vaccines that we have either invested in, or contracted with, and three of those have already entered Phase Three clinical trials, which is the late-stage clinical trials.”
Asked about when a vaccine may be available for masses, Azar says, “We believe that it is very credible that we will have in the high tens of millions of doses of FDA Gold Standard vaccine by the end of this year, and many hundreds of millions of doses as we enter next year. That could be from one (vaccine), but we think we have good chances of multiple candidates making the grade of FDA Gold Standard.”
During the interview, Azar also discussed how the clinical trials are being conducted, the potential effectiveness of a vaccine, and the plan being developed to distribute doses.
Azar was appointed Health and Human Services Secretary in January of 2018. He is a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and served as the group’s first chairman, prior to Vice President Mike Pence.
