US President Donald Trump Friday said he hoped a COVID-19 vaccine would be available by the end of the year, and announced he was appointing a former pharmaceutical executive to spearhead the effort. "We are looking to get it by the end of the year if we can, maybe before," Trump said, as he delivered an update on the race for a vaccine. "We think we are going to have some very good results coming out very quickly," he told reporters in the Rose Garden of the White House.
The timeline projected by Trump is more optimistic than what Europe foresees. The European Medicines Agency said Thursday a vaccine could be ready in a year's time under an "optimistic scenario." Trump announced he would appoint Moncef Slaoui, the former head of GSK