Without getting lost in the details, the company who the US government is funding to develop the vaccine (Moderna) uses a new technology that will likely become

Without getting lost in the details, the company who the US government is funding to develop the vaccine (Moderna) uses a new technology that will likely become the next generation platform for vaccines. Instead of providing to your body the "Wanted" poster with a picture of the virus, it sends the PDF to the cell which then prints its own "Wanted" poster. This makes the response much more predictable, controllable, and robust--your body believes your own cells more than foreign shit from the outside. Since 2015, Moderna has already tested this idea in humans and shown it to be safe with 6 other viral targets (H7 and H10 Flu, Zika, CMV, hMPV/PIV, and Chikungunya). In all of these human studies, it has detected antibodies at protective levels against the target virus. So in terms of safety, we are likely already there. This is why Tony Fauci is willing to accelerate so fast. Thinking forward, maybe the US govt will fund manufacturing at risk. Just start making it at scale, right now. Moderna's current capacity is unknown based on their earnings call last week, but back of the envelope math of the mRNA process puts production capacity in the millions of doses per month without additional build-out. That's enough to start with US health care workers and the vulnerable (>70yo, Immunocompromised, etc) within 6 months if needed.