Von der Leyen optimistic about COVID-19 vaccine before autumn

In a video published prior to Tuesday’s teleconference meeting with EU27 leaders, Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President and a trained doctor herself said a vaccine for COVID-19 could be available in the EU market before autumn.
Scientists expect that it will take almost 18 months to finalise the vaccine, test it and bring it to the market.
The Commission’s President expressed optimism that the regulatory processes could be fast-tracked, as bureaucracy is one of the reasons delaying the vaccines’ deployment in the market. The European Medicines Agency has expressed its preparedness to evaluate vaccines the soonest possible, however it does not see any early trials kicking-off before May.
On Monday, the European Commission announced it would provide €80 bn to the German biopharma company CureVac, to speed up the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. The financing would come in the form of an EU guarantee of a loan currently being assessed by the European Investment Bank (EIB).
“I hope that with this support, we can have a vaccine on the market, perhaps before autumn,” von der Leyen said on Tuesday.
Over the weekend, the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported that the US President Donald Trump had offered ‘large sums of money’ to the German firm, to gain a vaccine “only for the US.” However, both the company and the White House rejected such allegations.