Science on the frontier always exposes how little is known, even by the putative experts, so these phone calls made it clear to me how far we have to go. Still, it was nice to hear that a lot of scientists were looking for answers.

All that research focus has led to a remarkable amount of information in a remarkably short time. Within weeks of the first known animal-to-human transmission, scientists had sequenced the virus's full genome. By summertime, more than 270 potential COVID-19 drugs were in active clinical trials in the United States. As for the quest for the holy grail, a vaccine, an international phalanx of researchers from the U.S., China, Great Britain, India, Germany, Spain, Canada, Thailand, and elsewhere had identified more than 165 candidates by early August. Progress was so rapid that even a hyper-realist like Fauci -- who tends to emphasize how important it is to conduct large-scale clinical trials before introducing new drugs -- has said he is "cautiously optimistic" that a vaccine could be available early next year. If he's right -- oh please, oh please, let him be right -- that would be three years faster than the fastest vaccine development in history.