A Vaccine Is Close

Oxford jab ready ‘as early as September’ Scientists at Porton Down lead the way

- Janine Yaqoob

A vaccine to end the pandemic is just months away – and it will be created in Britain, claims TV doctor Michael Mosley.

The award-winning documentary-maker was given access to the top-security Porton Down laboratory where vaccines from two of our top universities are being tested.

Michael told the Sunday Mirror: “Everybody is moving ahead with the belief we’ll have a vaccine by the end of the year. The speed at which it’s happening is astonishing as vaccines normally take five to 10 years.”

Michael, 63, met Miles Carroll, deputy director of the National Infection Service at Public Health England, at the sprawling base in Salisbury, Wilts, for a BBC Horizon special.

Researchers there are looking at vaccines produced by Oxford University and Imperial College London. A million doses of Oxford’s vaccine could be ready as early as September.

Around 1,110 people will take part in its trial, half receiving the vaccine and the other half receiving a meningitis vaccine, and results are expected to begin to emerge next month.