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  • NEWS FEATURE

The lightning-fast quest for COVID vaccines — and what it means for other diseases

The speedy approach used to tackle SARS-CoV-2 could change the future of vaccine science.
  1. Philip Ball
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Workers in hi-vis vests move a large shipping container across the floor of a warehouse

The first US shipments of the joint Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were ready by mid-December. Credit: Michael Clevenger/Getty

When scientists began seeking a vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in early 2020, they were careful not to promise quick success. The fastest any vaccine had previously been developed, from viral sampling to approval, was four years, for mumps in the 1960s. To hope for one even by the summer of 2021 seemed highly optimistic.

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Nature 589, 16-18 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03626-1

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