COVID vaccine unlikely to be deployed widely in Britain before spring: adviser

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance walks outside Downing Street in London, Britain, September 30, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

There is unlikely to be a vaccine against the coronavirus that is in widespread use in Britain before the spring next year, government chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance said on Monday.

"(It's) unlikely we'll have a vaccine for any sort of widespread use in the community, before at least spring next year," Vallance told lawmakers.

(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; writing by Alistair Smout; editing by William James)