A vaccine will be essential to stopping the spread of the coronavirus, said the US chief epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Fauci, speaking during the meeting of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

However, he warned that it may take some time before the vaccine becomes available, CNBC reported.

“What I’ve expressed then and again is my concern that if some areas, cities, states what have you jump over those various check points and prematurely open up without having the capability of being able to respond effectively and efficiently my concern is that we will start to see little spikes that might turn into outbreaks,” he noted.

By the way, on Tuesday, Fauci spoke about US government collaboration on a vaccine with biotechnology company Moderna, which had just completed its first test phase. The company's potential vaccine contains genetic material called an RNA messenger, or mRNA, which was produced in a lab. Moderna announced last week that it would begin the second phase of testing soon, and would complete the development of test plans for the third phase this summer.

According to Fauci, US health officials are also working with several other organizations, including researchers from the University of Oxford, who are developing the vaccine.

He also said effective therapeutics are “critical” to treat patients infected with the virus.

The Food and Drug Administration on May 1 granted so-called emergency use authorization for Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir drug to treat COVID-19.

In addition to remdesivir, US health officials are developing and testing other new and reusable treatments, including monoclonal antibodies, which are proteins created in the lab that attack certain antigens, Fauci added.

They also plan clinical trials to evaluate the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19, and hyperimmune intravenous immunoglobulin to treat the disease, he said.

“These efforts will improve our response to the current pandemic and bolster our preparedness for the next, inevitable emerging disease outbreak,” Fauci said Tuesday.