The President of the United States has assured the global community that the US is working towards a vaccine that will stop the coronavirus in its tracks. In a meeting with industry executives at the White House, Donald Trump exhorted the companies to collaborate with one another in order to speed-up the process of curbing the virus.
The company leaders presence indicated a willingness to work with the government and each other in order to prevent COVID-19 from becoming any worse than it has already.
Some 90,000 people worldwide have been infected with the virus, a lesser 3,000 having died from it.
The White house has previously clashed with the pharmaceutical industry over high drug prices.
Similar to governments across the world, the US has in recent weeks appeared to struggle to show it is on top of the outbreak.
Trump says he secured the promise of drug makers to work together in order to find a vaccine (Image: GETTY)
The president and his cabinet met with leaders from the industry in order to reach an agreement (Image: GETTY)
The meeting, then, is the first sign of a victory in the war against the coronavirus, so says the White House.
It is not yet clear how and when the pharmaceutical industry would lay out plans to cooperate in securing a vaccination.
As the session drew to a close, Vice President Mike Pence said: “This is all hands on deck. And the news out of this meeting that you’ve already formed a consortia.
“Now we know they will be working together to create therapeutics and ultimately a new vaccine.”
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Dr Anthony Fauci denies that Mike Pence refused to allow him to speak about the virus (Image: GETTY)
Fauci is the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases (Image: GETTY)
He says it’s unlikely that a virus will be made for a year (Image: GETTY)
Mr Trump claimed to have been told by industry insiders a vaccine would take mere months, two or three, to be readily available.
His optimism was quickly cut short, however, when Anthony Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases, urged those at the table to correct the president’s impression on the situation.
He said any vaccine isn’t likely to be around for a year at the earliest.
He added:“He’s asking the question: When is it going to be deployable?
The coronavirus map in the US (Image: Express Newspapers)
“And that is going to be at the earliest a year to a year and a half.”
In what appeared to be a tense stand-off, Mr Trump replied: “You think that’s right?”
Attendees were eager to please, assuring the president that treatments, rather than a vaccine itself, could be ready before that.
Later on, Dr Fauci warned that the coronavirus had now become a serious pandemic.
The virus has now affected more than 60 countries around the world (Image: GETTY)
Taking to NBC News on Monday, Dr Fauci revealed the extent to which the virus could and has already impose globally.
He said: “We’re dealing with an evolving situation.
“We’re dealing with clearly an emerging infectious disease that has now reached outbreak proportions and likely pandemic proportions.
“If you look at multiple definitions of what a pandemic is, multiple sustained transmissions of of a highly infectious agent in multiple regions of the globe.”