With Election Day just around the corner, Donald Trump is leaving no stone unturned in a bid to convince voters about his ability to provide a COVID-19 vaccine ahead of the impending election. Despite the lack of confirmation from health officials, the president suggests a COVID-19 vaccine could be made available to the public in Oct.

Following their recently concluded assessments, top health officials have warned that a COVID-19 vaccine is highly unlikely to be rolled out in Oct. this year. Trump, on the other hand, said in a Friday press briefing that before the year comes to an end, or even before Nov., there would be a vaccine.

"I think we can probably have it sometime in October,” the president said at a press briefing earlier this week. These remarks come a day after Moncef Slaoui, the head of the government's vaccine accelerator indicated that the government isn't likely to approve a vaccine by early Nov.

Slaoui attributed the delayed rollout of a vaccine to the unavailability of data from late-stage clinical trials of top vaccine candidates by Nov. The Belgian-Moroccan researcher who heads the government's Operation Warp Speed told NPR that there is a slim chance that the ongoing trials could read by the end of Oct. this year.

Admitting that it is highly unlikely, Slaoui said it isn't impossible for a vaccine to be made available before the end of the year. He suggested that it is the right thing to be prepared in case.

Aside from Slaoui, top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci has also warned this week that a COVID-19 vaccine could take longer. There are three vaccine developers that have entered phase 3, which are the final stages of trials, but the studies take months and employ thousands of people.

Citing the projection of the enrollment and a slew of other things, Fauci explained that the experts need to decide whether or not the vaccine is effective and safe. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease said most of the researchers believe the decision will be made by Nov. and Dec.

While Fauci said it isn't inconceivable that there could be a vaccine by Oct., telling CNN that he doubts if that could come to fruition. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has already announced that the company will come to know if its vaccine works by the end of Oct.

It is unclear whether the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), which is responsible for reviewing vaccines, would either approve or issue an emergency use authorization for the shot relying only on that data. Trump, who had indicated that a vaccine could be ready before the election, accused government scientists of deliberately delaying progress until after the Election Day.