A vaccine for COVID-19 is unlikely to be available before 2021 despite the immediate start of human trials in the UK.
An additional £41m is being poured into vaccine research taking place at Oxford University and Imperial College London, with Oxford beginning human trials on Thursday.
But Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, has countered hopes that a vaccine could be the UK's way out of the COVID-19 lockdown.
He told reporters at the daily Downing Street press briefing that some social distancing measures would need to stay in place until there was a vaccine or drug which reduced the severity of Covid-19.
READ MORE: Trials of UK vaccine to begin on humans
“Until we have those, and the probability of having those any time in the next calendar year are incredibly small and I think we should be realistic about that, we’re going to have to rely on other social measures, which of course are very socially disruptive as everyone is finding at the moment,” he said.
Also on Wednesday, the coordinator of Covid-19 testing appeared to step back from Mr Hancock’s promised 100,000 virus tests each day.
Professor John Newton told ITV’s Peston programme the Government was confident that only “if there are enough people who need testing then we will hit our target”.
Meanwhile, First Secretary of State Dominic Raab told reporters there was “light at the end of the tunnel” after it was confirmed the UK had reached the peak of infections.
The Government, along with the Office for National Statistics, has announced that 20,000 households in England are being contacted to take part in the first-wave of the research designed to understand how the deadly bug has spread across the country, with initial findings expected in early May.
Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said a vaccine was not expected to be available in 2020 (Pippa Fowles/Crown Copyright/10 Downing Street)
All participants will provide a nose and throat swab to test for whether or not they currently have the virus, while adults in some 1,000 of the households will provide a blood sample to find out what proportion of the population has developed antibodies to Covid-19.
In the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Hancock said he was confident the country was at the peak of the outbreak but stressed that continued social distancing was currently needed to bring the number of new cases down.
READ MORE: Researchers explore impact of virus on body
He also said a contact tracing app which will alert people if they have been in contact with somebody with the virus and should self-isolate was currently in trials.
The BBC reported that testing of the new technology was being carried out at RAF Leeming, a base in North Yorkshire.
The broadcaster said the app currently tells users “you need to isolate yourself and stay at home” if they are deemed to be showing symptoms or have come into close contact with another app user who has Covid-19 symptoms.
General Sir Nick Carter, chief of the defence staff, said armed forces personnel were involved in rolling out “pop-up” testing centres as part of efforts to test those living even in remote areas of the country.
The Department of Health said 18,100 patients had died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, as of 5pm on Tuesday, up by 763 from 17,337 the day before.
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