‘No guarantee’ we will find a vaccine for coronavirus

But the PM said he was hopeful that research in the UK could find a cure.

The prime minister has said there is ‘no guarantee’ we will ever find a coronavirus vaccine.

Boris Johnson said he was hopeful of finding a cure and that the UK was at the forefront of developing a vaccine.

Speaking at the Downing Street briefing, he explained: ‘I’m hearing some very encouraging things from what’s going on at Oxford to achieve a vaccine.’

But he added: ‘This is by no means guaranteed. I believe I’m right in saying that even after 18 years we still don’t have a vaccine for Sars. What I can tell you is that the UK is at the forefront of concerted international activity to try to deliver a vaccine.’

He said the Government was putting ‘huge sums’ into finding a vaccine, but added: ‘If you ask me am I absolutely certain that we won’t be living with this for a long time to come, I can’t say that.

‘It may be that we have to become ever more flexible, ever more agile, ever smarter in the way that we tackle, not just this infection, but potentially future infections as well.’

The Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance added that it could never be guaranteed.

He said: ‘It’s a tough thing to do.’

But Sir Patrick said there were therapeutics and drug development programmes under way, adding: ‘I’d be surprised if we didn’t end up with something.’

At this evening’s briefing Mr Johnson also clarified that one-on-one meetings are allowed and defended the new ‘stay alert’ message.

Oxford University is currently trialling a possible vaccine and a pharmaceutical company is ready to mass produce the candidate if testing goes well.

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