AKIPRESS.COM - U.S. health officials and drugmakers expect to start producing potential coronavirus vaccine doses by the end of the summer, a senior administration official said Monday, CNBC reported.

The U.S. is aiming to deliver 300 million doses of a vaccine for Covid-19 by early 2021. The manufacturing process is already underway even though they aren’t sure which vaccine, if any, will work, a senior Trump administration official told reporters on a conference call Monday. He said they are already buying equipment, securing the manufacturing sites and, in some cases, acquiring the raw materials.

U.S. health officials have previously said they are ramping up the manufacturing process to ensure they can immediately get a vaccine to market once they identify one that works.

The Trump administration has selected four potential vaccines as the most likely candidates, but the senior official said Monday that that list could grow.

Last month, the Trump administration said the vaccine will be provided free of charge to Americans who can’t afford it.