Coronavirus vaccine may be ready by September -British scientist

Sarah Gilbert, an Oxford University professor, says a vaccine against coronavirus could be ready by September “if everything goes perfectly.”

According to The Times, the professor of vaccinology said she is 80 percent confident that the vaccine being worked on by her team would be effective.

The UK government has said it would fund the manufacture of the vaccine if it works and it would be availaible to the public.

So far, the world has recorded 1.7 million coronavirus cases, according to Worldometer, a website which give real time update on the disease.

It said while 103,846 people have died from the disease while 388,934 have recovered.

The vaccinologist explained that the lockdown in the UK has made it difficult to test a vaccine because the virus is unable to spread.

“I think there’s a high chance that it will work based on other things that we have done with this type of vaccine,” she said.

“It’s not just a hunch and as every week goes by we have more data to look at. I would go for 80 percent, that’s my personal view.

“Nobody can promise it’s going to work. We don’t want to get to later this year and discover we have a highly effective vaccine and we haven’t got any vaccine to use. We don’t think we need facilities built, there are facilities that can be switched over.”

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is also positive for the disease, was moved out of intensive care on Thursday. He was admitted in hospital on April 5, 2020, 10 days after he tested positive for COVID-19.