All new coronavirus vaccines are ‘long shots’, says UK’s chief scientific adviser

‘We should be clear it is not a certainty,” Sir Patrick Vallance says

All new vaccines are “long shots” and coronavirus will be “no different”, the UK government chief scientific adviser has warned as scientists prepare to start clinical trials into a Covid-19 jab as early as next week.

Sir Patrick Vallance has said people should not rely on the swift development of one for the virus.

“This is a new disease that didn’t exist before December and we have a lot to learn about the virus and how the body responds to it,” he writes in The Guardian.

“All new vaccines that come into development are long shots; only some end up being successful, and the whole process requires experimentation.”

The government adviser adds: ”Coronavirus will be no different and presents new challenges for vaccine development. This will take time, and we should be clear it is not a certainty.”

However, Sir Patrick said there are more than 80 ongoing coronavirus vaccine development programmes in the world, which he called “an effort the like of which has never been seen before”.

In the UK, a group of scientists from the University of Oxford are working towards beginning clinical trials.

Professor Sarah Gilbert, who is leading the team, said the prospects are “very good”, although no one can be completely sure it is possible to find a successful Covid-19 vaccine.

“That’s why we have to do trials to find out,” the professor of vaccinology told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.

“The prospects are very good, but it is clearly not completely certain.”

She said her team hopes to begin clinical trials towards the end of next week.

The UK government recently announced a new taskforce – headed by Sir Patrick – aimed at supporting the development of a vaccine for Covid-19.

As well as providing industry and research institutions with the resources and support, the group will review regulations to allow quick and safe vaccine trials.

More than 120,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, the health ministry said on Sunday.

The death toll for hospitalised patients stood at 16,060 as of Saturday afternoon.

With Press Association