How COVID-19 vaccines were made so quickly without cutting corners Driven by a global urgency and underpinned by decades of prior work on vaccine technology, vaccine developers found a way to chop not just days or months, but years off the timeline. Written By: Rachel Lance / Science News | 8:00 am, Jul. 2, 2021 × Vials of the AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine are seen in a general practice of a doctor, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Vienna, Austria April 30, 2021. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo Six months after the first COVID-19 shots started going into arms in the United States, the pace of vaccination has slowed. That’s prompted White House officials to scale back their goal of getting at least one dose to 70% of all U.S. adults by July 4; they’re now aiming for 70% of those 27 and older.