U.S. 'very unlikely' to approve COVID-19 vaccine by November: NIH director

The United States is "very unlikely" to have a COVID-19 vaccine authorized by its Food and Drug Administration before November, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said during an interview on Tuesday. 

"I would think it's very unlikely – given the timetables and the standards that have to be followed – that you will hear about an emergency use authorization before late November at the earliest," Collins said. 

In May, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll showed that only about half of Americans say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine if the scientists working furiously to create one succeed.

As of Tuesday evening, the U.S. has recorded a total of 8.1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 with more than 220,000 fatalities, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University.

(Cover: File photo)