Yup, its even a great achievement if they really made one in just 12-18 months. It really takes a lot of time for a vaccine to be created. The vaccine for the ebola virus was created in 5 years, and sad to say its the fastest-developed vaccine ever. I think what makes it hard is because the Corona virus is still mysterious in terms of how it affects our immune system. Have you heard about the news in South korea about those reinfected ones? Quite scary. I thought there's immunity after you get one. So its really takes time, its crucial to create a safe and effective one.
About the topic, employers would say that their employees are not their responsibility, however, isn't it best to show care to the people who work for them? They may not really gave everyone their full salary but its enough if they can do something for those employees who are really suffering. So after this pandemic, their employees would be able to go back to their work.