U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is “very confident” there will be a vaccine for coronavirus by the end of the year, revising up his estimate of the final U.S. death toll as several European countries prepare for a cautious easing of lockdowns, The Guardian reports.

The president used a Fox News “virtual town hall” on Sunday, May 3 night to repeat his regular virus talking points, including that a vaccine was not far away, Covid-19 was China’s fault and the economy would not only recover but “grow like crazy”.

“We are very confident we are going to have a vaccine by the end of the year,” Trump said. Scientists have repeatedly warned that a vaccine may take 12-18 months or longer.

Trump in April predicted 60,000 American lives would be lost but on Sunday said: “We’re going to lose anywhere from 75, 80 to 100,000 people. That’s a horrible thing.”

Global coronavirus cases have surpassed 3.5 million with more than 247,000 deaths.