A vaccine against Covid-19 may be ready by year-end, according to the head of the World Health Organization.
Today the organisation's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus raised hopes about the progress of the eagerly sought after jab.
"We will need vaccines and there is hope that by the end of this year we may have a vaccine," he said at the end of a two-day meeting of its Executive Board on the pandemic, said:
"There is hope."
Mr Ghebreyesus did not go into further details or refer to a specific vaccine effort.
At the moment nine experimental vaccines are in the pipeline of the WHO-led COVAX global vaccine facility.
The organisation aims to distribute 2billion doses by the end of 2021.
Earlier today Professor Adam Finn from the University of Bristol poured water on the notion that a vaccine could cause an immediate and dramatic end to the pandemic.
He said it is likely to be given to older people first.
Professor Finn, who is a member of the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation (JCVI), which advises ministers on vaccines, said the evidence showed that the jab should be first given to older people, carers and those who are vulnerable, before other considerations such as people's occupations were looked at.
It comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Commons on Monday that the Government would follow JCVI advice on who to vaccinate.
Mr Hancock has distanced himself from comments made by the head of the UK vaccine taskforce, who said less than half of the UK population could be given a jab to protect against the virus.
Kate Bingham told the Financial Times it was "misguided" for people to think the whole population would be vaccinated.
She said: "It's an adult-only vaccine for people over 50 focusing on health workers and care home workers and the vulnerable."
But when asked about her comments, Mr Hancock said it was a matter for his department and it would take advice from the JCVI.
