The need for medicines that help Covid-19 patients before the disease leaves the viral response phase and enters the host inflammatory phase has never been greater. While there are some positive signals in the prevention area, the most frequent estimates I am reading place a realistic timeline on the development of a vaccine of at least a year to eighteen months, and then global production capacity will need to ramp up.
There are two broad categories in the fight to treat Covid-19: 1) vaccines, 2) therapeutics.
There are at last count some 70 vaccine candidates