President Donald Trump is mobilizing the U.S. military to distribute a novel coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available and will focus first on older Americans.

In an interview broadcast Thursday on Fox Business Network Trump said, "You know it's a massive job to give this vaccine and our military is now being mobilized so, at the end of the year, we're going to be able to give it to a lot of people very, very rapidly."

He believes there will be a vaccine by the end of the year and the United States is mobilizing its military and other forces on that assumption.

The White House has set a target of having 300 million vaccine doses by the end of 2020. No such vaccine for this pathogen has been approved through a number are under development, and producing and distributing an effective vaccine are seen as key steps to jumpstarting the U.S. economy.

Trump's timetable conflicts with that given by the nation's top infectious disease expert in Senate testimony on Tuesday.