The HHS is fast-tracking the development of a vaccine to fight the new strain of coronavirus and expanding screenings for the virus from five to 20 U.S. airports, CNBC reports.
During a news briefing, Anthony S. Fauci, MD, director of the HHS' National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that researchers hope to begin an early stage trial of the vaccine in three months, but it will take up to a year for the vaccine to be ready for the public.
"We are proceeding as if we will have to deploy a vaccine. In other words, we are working on the worst scenario that this becomes a bigger outbreak," said Dr. Fauci.
The institute is working with biotech company Moderna to develop the vaccine.
Currently there is no proven therapy for the new coronavirus strain, but researchers in Hong Kong have said that they have developed a vaccine that needs to be tested on animals and humans, which could take a year.
During the same briefing, U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar said that screening for the virus will be expanded to 20 U.S. airports, up from the five that were conducting the screening until now.
"We are constantly preparing for the possibility that the situation could worsen," he said.
So far, there have been 4,609 confirmed cases and 106 deaths related to the 2019-nCoV strain of coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China. The U.S. has confirmed five cases of the virus.