Influenza vaccines can sometimes miss the mark because the influenza viruses often mutate significantly throughout their life cycle, and sometimes the vaccines don't prevent illness in some people. The mutations to this point with SARS-Cov-2 have been very minor, and it appears to be a very stable virus (which is both good and bad). If it continues in this manner, the vaccines that will begin to arrive possibly as early as September may prove very effective against this virus. Trust me when I tell you that I have 'inside information' about this, and in the end there will likely be 8 to 12 different vaccines for COVID-19 disease prevention. Some will not be safe for people over 70 years of age, while others may not be safe for children. There are over 100 vaccines in trails or pre-trials at this point, with 14 of them now in Phase II Clinical Trials on humans. Phase Two trials (or double-blind placebo trails) will likely take four months to complete, so a target somewhere around September 15th is the next goal. By that time a good number of the potential vaccines will fall by the way side, while some others will be fast tracked for FDA approval. At that time, it is possible that high risk groups including medical professionals and people with underlying conditions (diabetes, coronary issues, pulmonary disease) may be granted access to the first vaccines. And, possibly by Christmas or January, 2021 the billions of doses needed to inoculate an entire planet will be available.

I'm not trying to be some kind of cheerleader here, but no virus has ever won the war against science and the human spirit. We wiped small pox off the face of the planet by 1980, and there was absolutely no effective treatment for that disease as I recall. But, when a vaccine came along that was the end of small pox on a worldwide scale. The same will someday be true with COVID-19 so my hope is that everyone out there will get vaccinated once this time arrives. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.