Coronavirus vaccine could be rolled out in the UK next year as scientist reveals just 15 people vaccinated in tests so far

Professor Robin Shattock, who heads a team developing a vaccine at Imperial College London, said that enough doses would be available for everyone in the UK if trials go "really well".

But he warned there was "no certainty" that any of the coronavirus vaccines currently being developed will be successful, as it is dependent on the level of immunity needed to prevent infection.

"We anticipate if everything goes really well that we'll get an answer as to whether it works by early next year,” he told Sky News.

"And we have put in place the infrastructure to make that vaccine for the whole of the UK.

"So, assuming that the funding is there to purchase that vaccine, we could have that vaccine rolled out across the UK in the first half of next year."

Some 15 volunteers have been vaccinated for the trial so far, which will be ramped up to include another 200-300 participants in the "coming weeks", he said.

Scientists developing a vaccine currently do not know what level of immunity people need to prevent infection, which makes the chance of success "difficult to predict", according to Prof Shattock.

"If you only need a very small amount of immunity, I suspect most of the vaccines that are being developed will actually work, but if you need a very strong immune response or particular quality of immune response, we'll see that actually it will be shaking out to some of these candidates," he told the programme.

"We hope we will be the candidate, one of the candidates, that is successful, but there's no certainty with any individual approach."

Although development is also taking place at the University of Oxford, Prof Shattock said that a vaccine being made available by September "feels very optimistic" - partly due to the number of infections falling in the UK.

Asked if there was a chance a vaccine might not work, he replied: "Now I think that's a very low, low risk.

"I think we're very lucky in the UK that we have two very strong candidates, the one from Imperial, the one from Oxford, and so we're pretty well placed, but there's still not a certainty that either of those two will work."

Due to the urgency of the coronavirus crisis, any vaccine will need to be introduced "very cautiously", according to Prof Shattock, as the normal full trials will not take place.

"I think the wire pressure is actually there's such a push to develop a vaccine that normally, we would study a vaccine for two years before we made it widely available to the general public," he told the programme.

"And of course, we won't have two years of safety for this vaccine or any of the vaccines that are being developed.

"And so they still will need to be introduced very cautiously, with long-term follow up, as that pressure to get a vaccine in and to get economies up and running is really very strong."

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the highest standards in the world. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers and consequently the advertising that we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news by buying a copy of our newspaper.

We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of. Visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.

Thank you.