On April 30th, 2020, The New York Times published an interactive graph simulating how long it would take to develop and begin distribution of a vaccine against COVID-19:
We obviously know that this was wrong and it’s a great example of the effect of innovation under pressure.
But it should also be noted that Moderna actually had their vaccine ready 3 months before that article was published, in January 2020; before anyone died of the disease in USA. The trials still had to be performed to check the efficiency and risks of the vaccine.
Henning's blog 