Coronavirus: How close are we to a vaccine?

Coronavirus is spreading around the world, but there are still no drugs that can kill the virus or vaccines that can protect against it.

So how far are we from these life-saving medicines?

When will there be a coronavirus vaccine?

Research is happening at breakneck speed.

There are more than 20 vaccines in development. One has begun human trials after unusually skipping any animal research to test either the safety or the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Other scientists are at the animal research stage and hope to get the results of human trials later in the year.

But even if scientists can celebrate having developed a vaccine this year, there is still the massive job of being able to mass-produce it.

It means, realistically, one would not be ready until at least the middle of next year.

All of this is happening on an unprecedented timescale and using new approaches to vaccines, so there are no guarantees everything will go smoothly.

Remember there are four coronaviruses that already circulate in human beings. They cause the common cold, and we don’t have vaccines for any of them.