WATCH: Rushing coronavirus vaccine poses risks, whistleblower Rick Bright says

Vaccine expert Rick Bright told lawmakers on May 14 that it is difficult to estimate when the country might see a coronavirus vaccine. He added that a vaccine for a novel virus strain has never been developed within 12 or 18 months, but it could happen ‘if everything goes perfectly.” “We’ve never seen everything go perfectly,” Bright added. It normally takes up to 10 years to develop a vaccine, Bright said, but treatments have been created more quickly in emergency situations. “My concern is if we rush too quickly and consider cutting out critical steps, we may not have a full assessment of the safety of that vaccine,” Bright said. Bright testified on Thursday before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s health subcommittee in a hearing dedicated to “protecting scientific integrity” of the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. In a whistleblower complaint filed last week, Bright said he was reassigned to a different position in late April for pushing back against the Trump administration’s virus response strategy.

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