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Four months after a mysterious new virus began its deadly march around the globe, the search for a vaccine has taken on an intensity never before seen in medical research, with huge implications for public health, the world economy and politics. Seven of the roughly 90 projects being pursued by governments, pharmaceutical makers, biotech innovators and academic laboratories have reached the stage of clinical trials. With political leaders — not least President Trump — increasingly pressing for progress, and with big potential profits at stake for the industry, drug makers and researchers have signaled that they are moving ahead at unheard-of speeds. (Sanger, Kirkpatrick, Zimmer, Thomas and Wee, 5/2)

Hundreds of people are rolling up their sleeves in countries across the world to be injected with experimental vaccines that might stop COVID-19, spurring hope — maybe unrealistic — that an end to the pandemic may arrive sooner than anticipated. About 100 research groups are pursuing vaccines with nearly a dozen in early stages of human trials or poised to start. It’s a crowded field, but researchers say that only increases the odds that a few might overcome the many obstacles that remain. (Neergaard, 5/4)

When global leaders gathered virtually last month at the behest of the World Health Organization to commit to distributing a future coronavirus vaccine in an internationally equitable way, the United States didn’t join in. On Monday, the European Union is hosting a gathering for countries to pledge funding for research into vaccines and treatments for Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. But once again the U.S. government isn’t expected to participate. (Toosi and Bertrand, 5/3)

China wants to beat the world in the race to find a coronavirus vaccine — and, by some measures, it is doing just that. Desperate to protect its people and to deflect growing international criticism of how it handled the outbreak, it has slashed red tape and offered resources to drug companies. Four Chinese companies have started testing their vaccine candidates on humans, more than the United States and Britain combined. (Wee, 5/4)

British scientists developing a potential vaccine for the coronavirus hope to see a "signal" as to whether their vaccine candidate is working by June, an official involved in the effort said Sunday on "Meet the Press." Sir John Bell, the Regius professor of medicine at Oxford University, where one of the leading efforts to develop a vaccine is underway, said that the prospects for Oxford's candidate are "pretty good" and that "as every day goes by, the likelihood of success goes up." The researchers hope to have enough data from their phase-two trials that "we would get evidence that the vaccine has efficacy by the beginning of June." (Kamisar, 5/3)

World leaders will hold an international pledging “marathon” on Monday to raise at least 7.5 billion euros ($8.2 billion) for research into a possible vaccine and treatments for the novel coronavirus, after rich countries promised a unified response. Organised by the European Union, non-EU states Britain and Norway, and Japan, Canada and Saudi Arabia, leaders aim to raise funds over several weeks or months, building on efforts by the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and wealthy individuals. (5/4)

Ian Haydon, a healthy 29-year-old, reported to a medical clinic in Seattle for a momentous blood draw last week.“Oh yeah,” said the nurse taking his blood. “That is liquid gold.” Haydon is an obscure but important participant in the most consequential race for a vaccine in medical history. In early April, he was among the first people in the United States to receive an experimental vaccine that could help end the coronavirus crisis. (Johnson, 5/3)

As the world anxiously awaits a coronavirus vaccine, a Maryland biotechnology company already has signed deals to do initial production of three candidates. If one of them works, the firm has a factory in place to manufacture hundreds of millions of doses a year. Emergent BioSolutions of Gaithersburg has long been preparing for a global disease outbreak. The firm got started making a vaccine against anthrax, and since then has produced candidates for the Ebola and Zika viruses. (McCartney, 5/4)

The protest on Friday in Sacramento urging California’s governor to reopen the state resembled the rallies that have appeared elsewhere in the country, with crowds flocking to the State Capitol, pressing leaders to undo restrictions on businesses and daily life. But the organizers were not militia members, restaurant owners or prominent conservative operatives. They were some of the loudest anti-vaccination activists in the country. The people behind the rally are founders of a group, the Freedom Angels Foundation, which is best known in California for its opposition to state efforts to mandate vaccinations. (Bogel-Burroughs, 5/2)