The government today announced that a new coronavirus vaccine task force is up and running a desperate effort to end the crisis.
But Brits have been warned that it is unlikely to yield quick results.
Business Secretary Alok Sharma branded it a "colossal undertaking", and said that even if a vaccine is found, it will need extensive testing.
It comes as scientists from Oxford University said they were confident they could have a vaccine available by September.
However few within the scientific world share this optimism, with GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Sanofi SA, who earlier this week said they would develop a vaccine, predicting it would not be available until the second half of 2021.
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In the past, it has taken up to 10 years for vaccines to be tested and licenced.
In the US, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said 18 months is a realistic target.
Anthony Fauci said: “A vaccine that you make and start testing in a year is not a vaccine that’s deployable."
He said a more realistic timeframe is to have it available “in a year to a year and a half, no matter how fast you go".
The government said it would identify ways to fast-track clinical trials and also continue to support international efforts to find a vaccine.
The government's chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said finding a vaccine would be "complex", and said that it would first be given to the most vulnerable.
He said officials need to "back lots of horses" - saying: "We may need more than one vaccine."
Microsoft founder Bill Gates said although it was possible to make a vaccine available sooner, 18 months is a likely timeframe.
He said: "If everything went perfectly, we can do slightly better than that, but there will be a trade-off.
"We will have less safety testing than we would typically have and so governments will have to decide if will they indemnify the companies and say, ‘let’s go out with this’ when we just don’t have the time to do what we normally do.
"18 months is what we would expect."
Although it could take more than a year for a vaccine to be generally available, it is possible that it could be fast-tracked for some key workers, including hospital staff, the Guardian reports.
Marian Wentworth, president and CEO of Management Sciences for Health, said: “It really depends on what you mean by ‘having a vaccine’.
“If you mean one that can be used in a mass vaccination campaign, allowing us all to get on with our lives, then 12 to 18 months is probably right.”
