I think our main confusion is whether Phase 1 trials have to be complete before Phase 2-3 trials start. Surely if Phase 1 trials took 14 months and Phase 2 and 3 trials take additional serial time, there’s no way to get the vaccine in mass production within 12-18 months? I’m not 100% sure of this, though.
Here’s a news article reporting a 14-month Phase 1 trial for the COVID-19 vaccine, and I’ve seen the “12-18 months until vaccine deployment” timeline from Dr. Fauci and the NIH in several sources.
I think our main confusion is whether Phase 1 trials have to be complete before Phase 2-3 trials start. Surely if Phase 1 trials took 14 months and Phase 2 and 3 trials take additional serial time, there’s no way to get the vaccine in mass production within 12-18 months? I’m not 100% sure of this, though.
You’re right; the current plan condenses and overlaps the three phases in order to save a lot of time.