Virologist says it’s "optimistic" to think a COVID-19 vaccine will be ready in a year – WTSP.com

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla Information about COVID-19 has been rapidly changing, from added symptoms, to whether or not you should cover your face. So, 10News reporter Liz Burch caught up with an expert to ask him some of your questions.

Doctor Michael Teng is an associate professor at USFs Morsani College of Medicine. He's spent decades studying vaccines, so we asked what he thought the biggest piece of coronavirus news was this week.

"The first thing is that I think our models have gotten better, the new modeling is showing a decrease in mortality and morbidity, which is great," Dr. Teng said.

He stressed that the models are "just well-educated guesses."

He also mentioned that work has started on a vaccine and shared when he believes the public can realistically expect one.

"When I hear a year, a year and a half for a vaccine, thats an aggressive estimate, optimistic opinion, about when it could be done. This is if everything goes right," he said.

So it could be a little longer, but Teng says the good news is, a lot of resources are going into developing that vaccine right now.

On Twitter, a user named Donald asked: If youre asymptomatic carrying the virus, how long does it last in you?"

"Thats a really good question that we dont have a great answer for. If youre asymptomatic you dont know a start and stop to when you got infected, what we know from people who have symptoms, if that they are infectious before and after they have symptoms," Teng responded.

And on Instagram, a user named Jay asks: "Once a vaccine is developed, will it be needed yearly?"

"If we do have a vaccine, it will be a vaccine that will protect you for a while, but, what we dont know is how long that vaccine will last," Teng said.

Dr. Teng says he believes we have started to flatten the curve because of what he calls significant social distancing.

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Virologist says it's "optimistic" to think a COVID-19 vaccine will be ready in a year - WTSP.com