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Let’s start with some good news: The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has revised its COVID-19 model to show the peak of the pandemic in the U.S. coming this month rather than early May. But remember, it’s just a model, so the future is still uncertain.
But, as Americans retreat under orders to stay-at-home and stay socially distant, it’s hard to think too far in the future. There’s one group of medical experts who are firmly focused on what is to come: vaccine researchers.
Most public officials have made clear not to expect a vaccine in the next few months. Even with an accelerated timetable, it takes time to make certain that a vaccine is safe and effective.
We’ve summarized a discussion of coronavirus vaccine research with two researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine: Kathleen Neuzil, director of the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, and Wilbur Chen, an adult infectious disease expert with the same center. The discussion was sponsored by the National Press Foundation on April 3.
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Alex Mahadevan is a senior multimedia reporter at MediaWise. He can be reached at amahadevan@poynter.org or on Twitter at @AlexMahadevan. Follow MediaWise on TikTok.
