Dr. Fauci hopeful COVID-19 vaccine trials will be underway by winter

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases speaks remotely during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing to examine COVID-19 and Safely Getting Back to Work and Back to School on May 12, 2020 in Washington,DC. (WIN MCNAMEE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

by: Associated Press

Posted: May 12, 2020 / 08:07 AM PDT

Updated: May 12, 2020 / 08:07 AM PDT

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Dr. Anthony Fauci says the government is working on several potential vaccines for COVID-19.

“We have many candidates and hope to have many winners,” he told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension committee. “In other words, it is many shots on goal.”

Despite the rapid pace of work on vaccines, Fauci was offering no guarantees. He says, “The big unknown is efficacy.”

Fauci heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and is the government’s leading expert on the pandemic. He says he hopes to have a vaccine in advanced trials by late fall or early winter.