The European Medicines Agency of the European Union expected, Tuesday, that it will take a year for it to take a year for it to be ready and available in sufficient quantities.
With more than 88,000 HIV infections recorded globally, according to an AFP tally, the race continues to develop a vaccine against the virus that emerged in China late last year.
"It is estimated that it will take at least one year before the vaccine against Covid 19 becomes ready for approval and is available in quantities sufficient for widespread use," the European Agency said in a statement.
She added that this depends on the existing information available and previous experience in developing vaccines. The agency - based in Amsterdam - indicated that two vaccines had already entered the first stage of clinical trials conducted on healthy volunteers. She considered that, in general, "it is difficult to expect time frames for developing medical products."
To date, no drug has been shown to be a effective treatment for the Coronavirus, which has killed 40,000 people.