Today's show starts with a look at some possibilities and some controversy concerning a coronavirus vaccine. Since COVID-19 started spreading outside China early this year, more than 25 million cases have been diagnosed worldwide and they're been about 6 million cases diagnosed in the United States. That's one of the countries racing to develop a vaccine for the disease. And the leader of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration who's approval is needed to put a vaccine on the market recently said the FDA could give that approval before Phase III trials are over.
During testing, Phase III is when a vaccine is given to thousands of people to see how safe and effective it is. Before then, it's only tested on smaller more limited groups. Not waiting for Phase III to be complete could allow a vaccine to be available sooner.
Normally, experts say a vaccine could take 10 years or more to develop. Even the ones that are quickly turned around take more than three years.

Nations around the world are trying to get one approved in less than one year. That's part of the reasons while some consumers and doctors are concerned. In fact, a group of American doctors is calling for an independent commission to review a coronavirus vaccine before it's made available. They say they trust American testing and ethical guidelines but they think consumers might not trust the approval from an FDA committee because some of its members also work for government agencies and pharmaceutical companies. Some of those companies are involved in developing and distributing vaccines. So this group of doctors believes an independent review of data will help reassure Americans of a vaccine's safety. Many people are skeptical of vaccines in general. And in a cnn poll conducted in August, 40 percent of Americans said they wouldn't want a coronavirus vaccine when it comes available.
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