As a scientist for nearly 50 years, I can tell you that the beginning stage of any research effort is often marked by blind alleys, rethinking of previous results in light of new data, and dealing with naysayers. From the outside, it looks messy and chaotic. From the inside, dealing with the disappointing results of today leads to a new experiment which provides progress for tomorrow. Given the number of labs from around the world who are working on a new vaccine and potential treatments, I am hopeful that we will have a solution in 18 months. Even with that there is a very good chance that the first vaccine will not be as effective as we would all like. This won't mean that the scientists are incompetent but rather that science is a difficult and often frustrating subject.
I am just thankful that I never had the talking heads looking over my shoulder during my career.
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