TAMPA, Fla. — Some of the hesitancy around the COVID-19 vaccine is that people say it "was rushed." But experts say everything that's normally done, was done with this vaccine.
This concept of collaboration is not new. So let's give you a sharper insight into this process.
Penicillin was discovered in the 1920s, but mass production of it didn't happen until World War II. It was essentially the trigger because it was known we had to have antibiotics to support the war effort.
"And there was collaboration with the academic community, the industry and the government to come up with ways to mass produce penicillin and that effort led to saving many, many lives," says Dr. Dial Hewlett Jr., a fellow with the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
That same kind of collaboration happened with the COVID-19 vaccine.
2003 was the first experience with coronaviruses that were causing severe and fatal disease. That was the outbreak of SARS 1. It shares characteristics of this current virus.
Then in 2012, there was another outbreak, MERS.
So experts were already learning about the virus and its genetic sequencing, so by January 2020, the entire genetic sequencing was already known, which is the major hurdle developing a vaccine.
- Research shows vaccinating younger people could slow the spread of COVID-19
- Ivanka Trump tells Rubio she won't run for his Senate seat
- Military dad surprises daughter at Clearwater Marine Aquarium after one year deployment
- 2 women dressed up as 'grannies' to get COVID-19 vaccine, Florida health official says
- 'The decline is real': Here are the 4 reasons COVID-19 cases could be dropping so quickly in Florida
►Breaking news and weather alerts: Get the free 10 Tampa Bay app
►Stay In the Know! Sign up now for the Brightside Blend Newsletter
