Hundreds of labs across the globe have been racing to develop treatments and vaccines for the novel coronavirus in one of the most ambitious global scientific endeavors in history. There are now 197 vaccine candidates globally, with the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca and another lab from China already having entered Phase 3 trials. American biotech firm Moderna is close behind. There are 16 other candidates globally that have begun clinical trials. While some leading scientists are optimistic, Axios notes that even if a safe candidate were found, producing and distributing it globally would be a monumental and unprecedented task.
