An Irish doctor is at the centre of new hopes for a third Covid-19 vaccine, as scientists across the world race to get coronavirus jabs on the market.
Professor Adrian Hill is a 61-year-old academic from Ranelagh – and the director of a laboratory in Oxford University that hopes to have fresh vaccine updates within weeks.
He's at the very forefront of an international race to create a vaccine that can help return life to the way it was before the virus started tearing across the world.
And this week it looks like we've made a major breakthrough, with a new vaccine from Moderna showing 95% effectiveness, in what has been called a "pivotal moment" in our fight against Covid-19.
Professor Hill, who attended Trinity College Dublin in the 1980s, told the New York Times in April that "vaccines are good for pandemics, and pandemics are good for vaccines."
Along with his team at Oxford's Jenner Institute, the Irishman has consistently led the way when it comes to creating a safe and effective Covid-19 – and now it looks like we could have more than just one on the market before too long.
"The whole world doesn’t usually stand up and say, 'How can we help? Do you want some money?'" said Professor Hill.
The Dubliner was at the centre of the effort to build the Jenner Institute into what it is today – one of the world's leading not-for-profit vaccine research centres.
His own interest in vaccines stretches back to his time as a student, particularly a visit he paid to an uncle in Zimbabwe in the 1980s.
Professor Hill said: "I came back wondering: 'What do you see in these hospitals in England and Ireland?' They don’t have any of these diseases.'"
Dr Stephen Hoge, the president of Moderna, said he "grinned ear to ear for a minute" when the results came in.
He told BBC News: "I don't think any of us really hoped that the vaccine would be 94% effective at preventing Covid-19 disease.
"That was really a stunning realisation."
