Biomedical research of vaccines against COVID-19 was already being tested in humans in March. Three months after the initial outbreak was identified in China, many of those owed their rapid start to the power of Artificial intelligence (AI).

The feat is a promising and remarkable step in more than 200 years of immunization history. The experience may revolutionize the way vaccines are developed, potentially saving countless lives in future epidemics.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 34 vaccine candidates were being tested in humans as of early September. Another 145 candidates were picked up to test them in animals or in the lab, says WHO keeping a worldwide running list. Considering no one had heard of the novel coronavirus less than a year ago, these numbers are surprising. Novel coronavirus now recognized as SARS-CoV-2 that causes respiratory disease COVID-19. It typically takes several years or even decades to create a vaccine. The mumps vaccine’s highest speed record went from a collected sample to a marketed product within almost four years.

Research is speeding up with time. Our society and economy likely will not return to normal until a highly effective vaccine has been administered to a substantial amount of the planet’s population. The search for a vaccine has now expanded, collaborating with thousands of researchers at hundreds of laboratories worldwide and spending billions of dollars.

Human lives and the global vaccine market are at stake, risking approximately US $35billion even before COVID-19, and governments, philanthropies, and apothecary companies have been spending accordingly. In July, the U.S. government agreed to pay nearly $2 billion to pharmaceutical giants German’s BioNTech and Pfizer for 100 million doses of a vaccine when and if it comes to the market. Other major vaccine initiatives across the world are also getting funded in the 10 figures.

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