A COVID-19 vaccine likely will not be ready by Election Day, Anthony Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said in early September, countering White House forecasts.

“It’s unlikely we’ll have a definitive answer” by Nov. 3, Fauci said during an appearance at a virtual research conference. A better bet, he said, is that a vaccine might be approved for distribution by the end of the year. 

He made the remarks after two pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca and Soriot, temporarily paused trials for vaccines after participants showed adverse reactions.