What if the U.S. isn’t first to a coronavirus vaccine?

Moderna, a U.S. company, is the furthest along in the hunt for a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. But CanSino Biologics, a Chinese company, appears to be only a few weeks behind with a vaccine of its own. What happens if CanSino wins the race?

Gaming out how countries will behave once there’s a functional vaccine has been a topic for months. But Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease scientist, doesn’t think it’ll be a major issue. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Fauci said he expects many of the scores of vaccines now in development to prove effective, including candidates from China. It’s not impossible one of the Chinese vaccines will become available first, but, considering the timelines, competing projects should only be a few months apart, he said.

“If the Chinese get a vaccine that they consider safe and effective, well, God bless them,” Fauci said. “I hope they do, because they’ve got a lot of people in China they need to protect. We’re going to be doing the same things here.”