A priority list of who should get the vaccine first was drawn up earlier this year by the influential Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation
Matt Hancock today confirmed the NHS and the military are on standby to start rolling out Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine from the start of next month, with care home staff and residents at the front of the queue.
The Health Secretary said the first Brits will 'most likely' get their hands on the jab 'within weeks', as long as it clears the final hurdle of getting the green light from the UK's medical watchdog.
Preliminary data from studies of the vaccine suggest it can protect nine out of 10 people from catching Covid-19, with the full results to be published later this month. Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will then spend days rigorously poring over the study's findings to make sure the vaccine is safe before allowing it to be dished out en masse.
A priority list of who should get the shot first was drawn up earlier this year by the influential Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and is now being used as the blueprint for the rollout.
After care homes are inoculated, NHS staff and everyone over the age of 80 will be second in line. Those over 75 will be next in the queue, followed by over-70s, over-65s and high-risk adults under 65 with diseases such as cancer.
They will be followed by moderate risk adults under 65 - including diabetics and asthmatics. Over-60s will be next, with over-55s and over-50s the final priority groups. The general population will be last to get their hands on a jab and the JCVI says they will be prioritised based on age or underlying conditions.
However, the UK will only receive 10million doses by Christmas, which is enough for five million Brits because the shot needs to be administered a second time after 21 days to work properly. It means only a select few groups will get access to the vaccine in 2020 and draconian lockdown rules will need to stay in place well into next year.
Pfizer, the US pharmaceutical giant behind Viagra, published preliminary data yesterday showing the vaccine was 90 per cent effective at preventing Covid-19 infection. The breakthrough was the first real ray of hope in the pandemic and could spell an end to the perpetual cycle of locking down and opening up that Britain has been trapped in since March.
Matt Hancock said vulnerable Brits could be among the first citizens in the world to get access to the vaccine because of the leg work that has already been put in. As well as pre-ordering 40million doses, the MHRA has had Pfizer's jab under a rolling review, meaning the regulator has been monitoring data from the studies in real-time.
Mr Hancock said this means it could take just days for the MHRA to approve the vaccine once the full data is published later this month - a process which takes years under normal circumstances.
The preliminary findings were better than researchers anticipated and, if confirmed to be true, would make the vaccine far more effective than jabs for flu, TB and HPV
Boris Johnson, pictured leaving Downing Street this morning, promised the UK will be at the 'front of the pack' for the new coronavirus vaccine after the massive breakthrough
Mr Hancock said he had asked the NHS to 'be ready from the start of December' for the deployment of Pfizer's jab
Hopes of an end to the months of Covid-enforced disruption were raised yesterday when the New York based medical firm Pfizer announced their vaccine revealed its jab is 90 per cent effective
The Health Secretary told Sky News: 'I've asked the NHS who are supported by the armed services in this – but the NHS very much leading this effort for deploying the vaccine – I've asked them to be ready from the start of December.
'And, of course, there are many hurdles that still need to be gone over and we haven't seen the full safety data and obviously that is critical and we won't deploy a vaccine unless we can be confident in its clinical safety.
'But we also do need to be ready should a vaccine be licensed and get through all those hurdles and ready to roll it out.'
Billionaire couple who are so devoted to research that they spent their wedding day in the lab win race to produce coronavirus vaccine that's given hope to millions across the globe
Physicians Ugur Sahin and Oezlem Tuereci, who bonded over their love of medical research, are the married couple behind the Covid-19 vaccine that could change the world.
Mr Sahin came from humble roots to build two billion-dollar companies but still rides to work on his mountain bike.
Now the 'modest' 55-year-old physician turned chief executive of a German biotech firm and his wife Oezlem Tuereci, 53, a fellow board member of BioNTech, are being hailed as the 'dream team' behind the world's hopes for a Covid vaccine.
The global race to find a Covid-19 vaccine took a leap forward yesterday when pharma companies Pfizer and BioNTech claimed their experimental jab is 90 per cent effective. Boris Johnson promised the UK will be at the 'front of the pack' for the new coronavirus vaccine after the massive breakthrough.
Physicians Ugur Sahin and Oezlem Tuereci, who bonded over their love of medical research, are the married couple behind the Covid-19 vaccine that could change the world.
Born in Turkey, Mr Sahin was raised in Germany, where his parents worked in a Ford factory. Trained as a doctor, Mr Sahin became a professor and researcher focused on immunotherapy.
He worked at teaching hospitals in Cologne and the south western city of Homburg, where he met immunologist Miss Tuereci during his early academic career. Medical research and oncology became a shared passion.
Miss Tuereci, the daughter of a Turkish physician who had migrated to Germany, once said in an interview that even on the day of their wedding, both made time for lab work.
Together they honed in on the immune system as a potential ally in the fight against cancer and tried to address the unique genetic makeup of each tumour.
Trained as a doctor, Mr Sahin became a professor and researcher focused on immunotherapy
He worked at teaching hospitals in Cologne and the south western city of Homburg, where he met immunologist Miss Tuereci during his early academic career
Life as entrepreneurs started in 2001 when they set up Ganymed Pharmaceuticals to develop cancer-fighting antibodies, but Mr Sahin - by then a professor at Mainz university - never gave up academic research and teaching. Ganynmed was sold to Japan's Astellas in 2016 for $1.4 (£1.06) billion.
Mr Sahin and Miss Tuereci co-founded BioNTech in 2008, with the aim of pursuing a much broader range of cancer immunotherapy tools.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has invested $55 (£41.8) million in the company, which also works on HIV and tuberculosis programmes.
Colleagues describe Mr Sahin as a calm and measured man who avoids checking the company's share price and is more interested in reading scientific journals.
He and his wife now figure among the 100 richest Germans, according to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
But Matthias Kromayer, a board member of venture capital firm MIG AG, whose funds have backed BioNTech, said: 'Despite his achievements, he never changed from being incredibly humble and personable.'
He added Mr Sahin would typically walk into business meetings wearing jeans and carrying his signature bicycle helmet and backpack with him.
Mr Hancock said there were still a few key hurdles to overcome before the 'vast task' of vaccination could begin, including regulatory approval of the new Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and assessment of its safety data.
He added it had always been his expectation that most people will not get a jab until 2021.
'We've always been clear that our central expectation for the rollout of a vaccine should a vaccine come good… the central expectation of the bulk of the rollout and deployment has always been in the first part of 2021,' he said.
The Health Secretary said that once a vaccine becomes available, it will be delivered through care homes, GPs and pharmacists, as well as 'go-to' vaccination centres set up in venues such as sports halls.
He told BBC Breakfast: 'We will be working across the NHS with the support of the armed forces seven days a week, over weekends, over bank holidays, to get this rolled out into people's arms as quickly as possible.'
He said the exact model would depend on which vaccine was adopted, with Oxford University and AstraZeneca expected to release results of their vaccine shortly.
'The Pfizer vaccine needs to be held at minus 70C until the last few hours before it is deployed, which obviously makes things more complicated,' Mr Hancock said. The AstraZeneca vaccine is a bit easier to deploy logistically.'
Pfizer's vaccine must be stored at the ultra-low temperatures in special suitcase-like storage boxes, sparking concerns that it could delay the roll out.
This could make it difficult for GP clinics and care homes to store, the reports add.
To combat the issue, the American drug maker has designed a special suitcase-sized box to help deliver the vaccines.
The British Army will also likely be called in to support the distribution efforts.
But the vaccines must be stored in dry ice - a solid form of carbon dioxide which mixed with other substances can create a cold ice bath of around minus 78C.
And, according to leaked Pfizer documents, the suitcases containing the doses can only be opened for a minute at time and not more than twice a day, the Times reports, making it difficult to supply the doses to patients.
The Oxford jab can be stored at room temperature, making it much easier to store and distribute.
Mr Hancock said both vaccine would not be required for children and that uptake would be voluntary.
'We are not proposing to make this compulsory – not least because I think the vast majority of people are going to want to have it,' he said.
Mr Hancock urged people not to drop their guard and stop following the rules around social distancing, saying coronavirus is 'still a deadly disease'.
He added he was 'not going to put a date on' when life may get back to normal after Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford University and a member of the Government's vaccine taskforce, said he was confident people could look forward to a return to normal life by the spring.
'This is promising news, but it is one step of many that we need to take to get out of this and to tackle this pandemic once and for all,' Mr Hancock added.
The Cabinet minister acknowledged there was 'enormous complexity' in storing and administering the Pfizer vaccine, which needs to be kept in cold storage.
'Also, you can't take it out of that freezer more than four times on its journey from the manufacturing plant into the arm of patients… so that brings its complications,' he said.
'I'm sure that the NHS is going to rise to this challenge of deployment, and we've been working on it for four months now.
'What I'd say is this is a promising step, but there's many steps still to come.'
Regarding progress on the vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca, Mr Hancock said he did not know when their first data would be released.
'We're not exactly sure when further news will come from the Oxford trial,' he said. 'But we're working again to ensure that that can be deployed, should it come off.
'I'm sure that the NHS is going to rise to this challenge of deployment, and we've been working on it for four months now.
'What I'd say is this is a promising step, but there's many steps still to come.'
Regarding progress on the vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca, Mr Hancock said he did not know when their first data would be released.
'We're not exactly sure when further news will come from the Oxford trial,' he said.
'But we're working again to ensure that that can be deployed, should it come off.'
The UK Government has ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine – enough for about a third of the UK population.
It expects 10 million of these doses to arrive in the UK before the end of this year, with people given to doses, 21 days apart.
Scientists have hailed the announcement from Pfizer and BioNTech as a significant breakthrough in the fight against coronavirus.
Minutes released in November on the JCVI's meetings spoke of problems with infection in the top care home setting on the list.
It stated: 'It was noted that outbreaks of acute respiratory infections in care home had been a feature of the epidemic from the beginning.
'Genomic evidence indicated multiple introductions into care homes. More recently care homes had accounted for a smaller proportion of incidents reported to Health Protection Teams , with increases seen in educational settings, workplaces and other settings.'
The suggested priority list for the vaccine jumped to the forefront of public attention yesterday after pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, working with German biotech company BioNTech, announced their mRNA-type vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19.
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Pfizer's Covid vaccine must be stored at MINUS 70C in special suitcases that might rule out a jab at your GP, researchers warn
Pfizer's Covid vaccine must be stored at minus 70C in special suitcase-like storage boxes, sparking concerns that it could delay the roll out.
Hopes of an end to the months of Covid-enforced disruption were raised yesterday when the New York based medical firm announced their vaccine revealed its jab is 90 percent effective.
But concerns have now been raised about the amount of special equipment needed to store the vaccine ahead of its use.
The vaccine must be stored at minus 70C up until the day it is used in order to protect the genetic material inside.
This could make it difficult for GP clinics and care homes to store, the reports add.
To combat the issue, the American drug maker has designed a special suitcase-sized box to help deliver the vaccines.
The British Army will also likely be called in to support the distribution efforts.
But the vaccines must be stored in dry ice - a solid form of carbon dioxide which mixed with other substances can create a cold ice bath of around minus 78C.
And, according to leaked Pfizer documents, the suitcases containing the doses can only be opened for a minute at time and not more than twice a day, the Times reports, making it difficult to supply the doses to patients.
The report comes after chair of the government’s vaccines taskforce Kate Bingham warned last week that providing the vaccine would be challenging.
It has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no safety concerns have been raised.
And now Pfizer plans to apply to the US regulator the Food and Drug Administration for emergency approval to use the vaccine by the end of the month.
Its own analysis was carried out after 94 confirmed cases of Covid-19 were found among those taking part in the trial.
The UK has secured 40 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine - the first agreement the firms signed with any government.
It is thought people will need two doses, meaning not enough shots have been secured for the entire UK population.
However, it is likely other vaccines will announce results from their clinical trials shortly.
All vaccines undergo rigorous testing and have oversight from experienced regulators.
Some believe mRNA vaccines are safer for the patient as they do not rely on any element of the virus being injected into the body.
mRNA vaccines have been tried and tested in the lab and on animals but the coronavirus vaccine will be the first one licensed for use in humans.
The human trials of mRNA vaccines - involving tens of thousands of people - have been going on since early 2020 to show whether it is safe and effective.
Pfizer will continue to collect safety and long-term outcomes data from participants for two years.
It comes after Brazil suspended clinical trials of a Chinese-developed Covid-19 vaccine after an 'adverse incident' involving a volunteer recipient.
The setback for CoronaVac, developed by China's Sinovac Biotech, came as US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said its own vaccine candidate had shown 90 per cent effectiveness - sending global markets soaring and raising hopes of an end to the pandemic.
Sinovac Biotech on Tuesday stood by its creation, saying: 'We are confident in the safety of the vaccine'.
The Brazilian regulator Anvisa said it had 'ruled to interrupt the clinical study of the CoronaVac vaccine after a serious adverse incident' involving a volunteer recipient on October 29.
It said it could not give details on what happened because of privacy regulations, but that such incidents included death, potentially fatal side effects, serious disability, hospitalization, birth defects and other 'clinically significant events.'
Sinovac, however, said the incident was 'not related to the vaccine', adding it will 'continue to communicate with Brazil on this matter'.
The public health center coordinating the trials of the vaccine in Brazil, the Butantan Institute, said it was 'surprised' by Anvisa's decision.
The institute 'is investigating in detail what happened' and 'is at the Brazilian regulatory agency's disposal to provide any clarification necessary on any adverse incident the clinical trials may have presented,' it said.
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Everything you need to know on Pfizer's breakthrough jab
The global race to find a Covid-19 vaccine took a leap forward today when pharma companies Pfizer and BioNTech claimed their jab is 90 per cent effective.
PFIZER'S COVID-19 VACCINE TIMELINE AT A GLANCE
March 17: Pfizer and Germany firm BioNTech announce they are co-developing a Covid-19 vaccine.
The companies team up after previous collaborations on flu jabs.
July 13: Their vaccine is granted fast-track status by the FDA.
It gives regulators in the US the ability to review data from studies into the jab in real time, so it can be approved and rolled out quicker.
July 20: Phase one trial on 12 adults show the vaccine stimulates antibody response.
July 27: Phase two trial is launched in a much larger group of people and compared to a placebo to see if the jab is safe.
August 12: Results from the study of 45 adults find the jab is well tolerated with few side effects and stimulates the immune response thought to be needed to fend off Covid-19 infection.
Mid-August: Phase three trials are launched in the US. These trials see researchers administer the jab then wait to see if people get infected naturally in the community.
September 12: Phase three trials are expanded to include 44,000 people at more than 120 clinical sites across the US, Brazil, South Africa and Argentina.
October 6: The European Medicines Agency agrees to initiate a rolling review, which the FDA had done months earlier.
October 30: The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency also undertakes rolling review. It opens the door for the US, UK and Europe to get doses by the end of 2020.
November 9: Early results from phase three suggest nine out of 10 people who get their jab are protected by it.
Sometime in December: Full results from the phase three trials are expected. This will paint a clearer picture about how effective the jab will be.
December 25: Kate Bingham, head of the UK's Vaccine Taskforce, has said Britain could have 10million doses of Pfizer's jab ready to be rolled out by Christmas.
Hopes that the pandemic could come to an end surged, along with stock markets across the world, as the firms became the first to report results from large-scale clinical trial and hailed today 'a great day for science and humanity'.
The UK has already bought 40million doses of the jab and a quarter of them could be ready to go before the end of the year, and cautious scientists admit the results are 'excellent' and 'really impressive' - with one even claiming Britain could be back to normal by spring 2021.
Here, MailOnline explains everything you need to know about the vaccine:
WHAT DO THE NEW TRIAL RESULTS SHOW?
Pfizer and German partner BioNTech said that 94 people in a trial of more than 43,000 have so far tested positive for Covid-19, and that over 90 per cent of those did not receive the real vaccine.
This suggests the vaccine is 90 per cent effective and that no more than eight out of those 94 people actually received the real jab.
Most of the people who tested positive were in the placebo group, where people are given a fake vaccine so that what happens to them can be compared with those who get the real thing.
The companies did not reveal the exact split of how many people had had the vaccine and how many had not.
The results were revealed in a corporate press release, which is not considered transparent enough for independent review, but they will be published in full later this year when the study is more complete.
This phase of the trial will continue until at least 164 participants have tested positive, the researchers said.
While previous studies have been extremely promising – suggesting, for example, that various vaccines boosted the immune system's response to Covid – this is the first time any jab has been shown to actually ward off the virus.
That the Pfizer jab is 90 per cent effective is far better than scientists dared hope.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR ME?
The general public will not benefit from the vaccine - if it is approved - for weeks or months to come, but today's results mean there is a ray of hope that the pandemic could end.
Coronavirus cannot yet be stopped without a vaccine, and one that prevents infections or at least reduces the risk of death could spell the end of social distancing.
In the UK, officials have bought 40million doses of the vaccine and they could be available to the most vulnerable people within months if the study ends well.
WHEN COULD IT BE READY TO GIVE TO THE PUBLIC?
Pfizer and BioNTech have said they will try to apply to the Food and Drug Administration in the US for approval within the next month, provided their final results are as positive as today's announcement suggests.
WHY THE PFIZER VACCINE MIGHT NOT BE A SILVER BULLET
LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE
Pfizer's vaccine needs to be stored at ultra-low temperatures, which makes trying to ship and distribute the shots a logistical headache.
The vaccine must be kept at -70C (-94F) which rules out storing it at most hospitals or pharmacies, where jabs are normally kept and administered.
Pfizer's shot will likely need to be stored in laboratories or specialist hospitals.
To transport it around the country will also require expensive refrigerated lorries.
There are also rumblings from insiders that the UK does not have enough of these lorries or enough medical-grade glass vials and PPE for the mass rollout of a vaccine across the country.
Last month the logistics advisory group 7Bridges - which will be one of the main firms tasked with helping officials mass-vaccinate Brits - said it still hadn't heard from No10 about a plan for the rollout of the first successful jab candidate.
Philip Ashton, chief executive of 7Bridges, said it was possible that health workers and high risk people could get their hands on a jab by the year's end.
But it could take up to two years to inoculate the entire nation, he claimed.
The logistics expert does not believe the UK has enough 'cold chain' lorries for the transportation of the vaccine doses at present.
The 'cold chain' is a system of storing and transporting vaccines at recommended temperatures from the point of manufacture to the point of administration.
POTENTIALLY LOW UPTAKE
There are concerns that a significant amount of people will refuse to take a coronavirus vaccine.
A major University College London study in late September estimated a fifth of Britons will turn down a potential jab.
If crudely extrapolated to the entire country it could mean 13million people refuse to take it.
Researchers found a 'concerning level of misinformation around vaccines' which could significantly affect uptake once a Covid-19 vaccine is approved.
In the largest survey of its kind, 22 per cent of 17,500 people asked said they were unlikely to be vaccinated with 10 per cent strongly opposed to it.
Just half (49 per cent) of people asked said they 'very likely' to be immunised, while three-quarters (78 per cent) said they considered it 'likely'.
Scientists think 70 per cent uptake will be enough to achieve 'herd immunity' - a form of indirect protection from that occurs when a high percentage of a population has become immune to a disease.
So even if 22 per cent turn it down, community protection might still be possible.
But if public confidence in a vaccine dwindles more then it raises serious concerns.
MINK MUTATED COVID-19
A mutated version of coronavirus caught from mink might render Pfizer's vaccine less effective than its touted 90 per cent figure.
Scientists believe the virus jumped from farm workers to mink in the summer before being passed back to humans.
As it crossed between species, a mutation occurred on its 'spike' protein, which it uses to enter human cells.
This mutation of the protein appears to make the strain more resistant to antibodies, disease-fighting proteins made and stored by the immune system.
Pfizer's jab trains the body to produce a wave of these antibodies by exposing it to lab-generated genetic material created to imitate what scientists have found inside the coronavirus.
But if the new variant of Covid-19 becomes the prevailing strain then there are fears the vaccine could be less effective.
Ian Jones, a virologist from the University of Reading, told MailOnline the possibility of the mink strain being able to duck the body's antibody response was a 'formal possibility'.
He said: 'In theory, the mink form, which has mutations in the spike protein, could then evade the immune response generated to the vaccines currently in development and form Covid-19-2.
'There are a lot of reasons why this would not happen easily, but it is a formal possibility which is why the mass cull has taken place.
LIMITED DOSES
The UK's vaccine tsar Kate Bingham said last week Britain has the capacity to produce 10million doses of the Pfizer jab by the end of the year.
But the way the vaccine works is by administering two doses almost a month apart - meaning only 5million Brits will get access.
There are almost a million frontline NHS staff across the UK.
They have been highlighted as top priority for the vaccine by UK health officials because they are the most likely to catch the virus or pass it to already sick people.
It means only a few million vulnerable or elderly Britons will actually get access by Christmas.
The 10million touted doses are also a best-case scenario and it is very likely that issues in the supply chain could hamper the country's ability to deliver that many doses.
This is because Pfizer is an American company, based in New York. BioNTech is a German company so it is likely the same procedure will be followed in the European Union.
It will then be a question of how long it takes regulators to decide, and of how long delivering all the doses takes if it is approved, but it could be just weeks into December.
Before the vaccine is given to millions of Britons, it must be first be approved by the regulatory body — the MHRA, which has already launched a rolling review of all existing data so it can be fast-tracked through the process when the drug giant eventually submits it for approval.
The UK now has the power to approve its own vaccine without waiting for a licence from Europe, because of new laws passed during the pandemic, or an EU approval would also allow Britain to use the jab.
Kate Bingham, chief of the UK's vaccines taskforce, said last week that it was possible the jab could be ready in Britain before Christmas.
She said there was a 'possibility of being ready before the end of the year'.
HAS THE UK ALREADY GOT DOSES OF THE VACCINE?
Downing Street today said it has ordered 40million doses of the double-dose vaccine, which would be enough to give to 20million people.
Kate Bingham said last week that 10million doses of the Pfizer vaccine could be available in Britain by the end of year.
It means that, at the absolute most, only 10million Brits will receive the vaccine by Christmas, but the vaccine is given in two shots so this could actually be five million.
A further 30million doses would then be produced and sent to Britain next year - the timescale for this is not yet clear.
HOW DOES THE VACCINE WORK?
The jab is known as a messenger RNA vaccine, which uses genetic code from the virus to provoke the immune system.
Traditional vaccines tend to use damaged or destroyed versions of the real virus to achieve the same effect - if this one works, it will be the first mRNA jab ever to be proven in humans.
The vaccine is made of lab-generated genetic material which is created to imitate what scientists have found inside the coronavirus.
The genetic material is then injected into the body inside a fatty molecule.
The genes are specifically chosen to code for the 'spike' protein on the outside of the coronavirus, which are what the virus uses to bind to human cells and infect them.
When the molecules get into the body, they deliver the mRNA into living cells and trick the body into making its own copies of the spike protein.
When these appear in the bloodstream they trigger the immune system in the same way that the real virus would, although the effects are milder because there are no actual viruses driving the infections, so the situation is under the body's control.
In the process, the immune system learns how to recognise and destroy the spikes so that when it encounters them for real it can kill the virus before it causes Covid-19.
IS IT SAFE?
Pfizer and BioNTech say they have not encountered any safety issues during their trials so far, which have been going on for six months.
This suggests with a good degree of confidence that the vaccine is safe for humans at least in the short term.
Long-term safety can only be proven when huge numbers of people have had the vaccine and had their health tracked for years or even decades afterwards, so scientists cannot yet be 100 per cent sure that no side effects will ever appear.
However, the current phase three trial includes more than 43,000 people from different backgrounds all over the world, all of whom are being closely monitored after having the vaccine.
If people suffer side effects of the vaccine that are more common or more severe than in the placebo group - who received a fake vaccine for comparison - this will be investigated in detail by the researchers.
Pfizer and BioNTech will not be given permission to distribute the jab without showing independent regulators that they have concrete data to prove the jab is as safe as possible.
Regulators will not accept a licensing submission until at least half the people in the trial have been vaccinated for at least two months. That data is expected in a fortnight. Only then will the true safety profile be known.
WHAT ARE SCIENTISTS STILL TESTING FOR?
The trial is still going and will likely not end completely for years to come, because the more data scientists have, the more confident they can be about their results.
In the short term, the researchers must continue to gather safety data and proof that the vaccine is actually working.
The team said they will keep the current phase of the trial open until at least 164 people have been infected with the coronavirus.
They will then compare the infection rate in the vaccine group to that of the placebo group, who got a fake vaccine, to see how much of a difference the jab makes.
They will want to see that significantly fewer people got sick after having the jab, compared to people who had the fake one. Early data suggests this is the case.
Safety data is still being collected, too.
Before Pfizer and BioNTech can apply to US regulators for permission to use the jab on the public, they must produce two months' worth of data for at least half of the study's 38,955 participants who have had both doses of the vaccine.
WHICH VACCINES HAS THE UK SECURED DEALS FOR?
1. GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur: 60million doses
The Government revealed on July 29 it had signed a deal with pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur
If the vaccine proves successful, the UK could begin to vaccinate priority groups, such as frontline health and social care workers and those at increased risk from coronavirus, as early as the first half of next year, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said.
Human clinical studies of the vaccine will begin in September followed by a phase 3 study in December.
The vaccine is based on the existing technology used to produce Sanofi's seasonal flu vaccine. Genetic material from the surface protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is inserted into insect cells - the basis of Sanofi's influenza product - and then injected to provoke an immune response in a human patient.
2. AstraZeneca (manufacturing University of Oxford's): 100million
AstraZeneca, which is working in partnership with Oxford University, is already manufacturing the experimental vaccine after a deal was struck on May 17.
Professor Sarah Gilbert, who is leading the Oxford team, is confident the jab could be ready for the most vulnerable people by the end of the year.
Her comments came after the results from the first phase, published in The Lancet on July 20, showed promise.
The team have genetically engineered a virus to look like the coronavirus - to have the same spike proteins on the outside - but be unable to cause any infection inside a person. This virus, weakened by genetic engineering, is a type of virus called an adenovirus, the same as those which cause common colds, that has been taken from chimpanzees.
3. BioNTech/Pfizer: 30million
US drug giant Pfizer - most famous for making Viagra - and German firm BioNTech were revealed to have secured a deal with the UK Government on July 20.
It reported positive results from the ongoing phase 2/3 clinical trial of one called BNT162b1 on July 1. The company is still running phase 2 trials at the moment.
Pfizer's vaccine is one called an mRNA vaccine, which do not directly inject bits of the virus into the body but send genetic material.
mRNA vaccines programme the body to produce parts of the virus itself by injecting the body with a molecule that tells disease-fighting cells what to build. The immune system then learns how to fight it.
4. Valneva: 60million
The Government has given Valneva — whose vaccine is understood to be in the preclinical stages of development — an undisclosed amount of money to expand its factory in Livingston, Scotland.
While the Government revealed a 60million dose deal on July 20, the company said it had reached agreement in principle with the UK government to provide up to 100million doses.
Valneva's jab is an inactivated whole virus vaccine, meaning it injects a damaged version of the coronavirus itself into the body.
The virus has been destroyed in a way that makes it unable to cause infection, but the body still recognises it as a dangerous intruder and therefore mounts an immune response which it can remember in case of a real Covid-19 infection.
5. Janssen (Johnson & Johnson): 30million
The Government has agreed to buy 30million doses of a vaccine made by Janssen if it works.
Officials have agreed to help the company in its development of the jab by part-funding a global clinical trial. The first in-human trials of Janssen's jab began in mid-July and are being done on adults over the age of 18 in the US and Belgium.
The jab is named Ad26.COV2-S, recombinant, and is a type of jab called a viral vector recombinant vaccine.
Proteins that appear on the outside of the coronavirus are reproduced in a lab and then injected into the body to stimulate an immune reaction.
The 'Ad' part of the vaccine's name means it works using an adenovirus - a virus best known for causing the common cold - as a vehicle to transport the coronavirus genetics into the body.
6. Novavax: 60million
Britain has ordered 60million doses of a vaccine being developed by the US-based company Novavax. It will help to fund late-stage clinical trials in the UK and also boost plans to manufacture the vaccine in Britain.
Novavax's jab, named NVX-CoV2373, showed positive results in early clinical trials.
It produced an immune response in 100 per cent of people who received it, the company said, and was safe and 'generally well-tolerated'.
Novavax's candidate is also a recombinant vaccine and transports the spike proteins found on the outside of the coronavirus into the body in order to provoke the immune system.
7. Imperial College London: Unknown quantity
Imperial College London scientists are working on Britain's second home-grown hope for a jab. The candidate is slightly behind Oxford's vaccine in terms of its progress through clinical trials, but is still a major player.
The UK Government is understood to have agreed to buy the vaccine if it works but details of a deal have not yet been publicised.
Imperial's jab is currently in second-phase human trials after early tests showed it appeared to be safe.
Imperial College London will try to deliver genetic material from the coronavirus which programs cells inside the patient's body to recreate the spike proteins. It will transport the RNA inside liquid droplets injected into the bloodstream.
This data must show that the vaccine can be given safely to large numbers of people without any serious side effects.
Vaccines are not ruled out by any side effects, and regulators will be looking for proof that the benefits of the jab outweigh any potential risks.
WHO WILL GET THE JAB FIRST IN THE UK?
Care home residents and staff will be the first to get a Covid-19 vaccine when one is approved, according to Government advice published in late September.
Everyone over the age of 80 and NHS staff will be second in line, guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation says.
Those over 75 will be next in the queue, followed by over-70s, over-65s and high-risk adults under 65 with diseases like cancer.
They will be followed by moderate risk adults under 65 - including diabetics and asthmatics.
Over-60s will be next, with over-55s and over-50s the final priority groups.
The general population will be last to get their hands on a vaccine and they will most likely be prioritised based on age or underlying conditions.
HOW WILL THE VACCINE BE ADMINISTERED IN THE UK?
The UK Government has announced that it is expanding the group of people who will be able to administer vaccines, as well as potentially setting up walk-in or drive-in centres in public locations such as car parks outside GP surgeries.
Physios and paramedics will be trained to deliver Covid-19 jabs to help the NHS carry out its mass vaccination programme through the winter.
Currently, only doctors, pharmacists and some nurses are legally allowed to administer vaccines in the UK.
But new laws passed in October grant more health workers - including midwives and even medical students - to be able to inoculate members of the public.
They are currently being put through 'robust training' according to the Government, which it says will 'save thousands of lives by increasing access to vaccines against killer disease'.
ARE THERE LOGISTICAL PROBLEMS WITH BUYING SO MUCH VACCINE?
Experts have raised concerns that storing the vaccine in Britain might be difficult.
Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine may have to be stored at temperatures below -70°C (-90°F) to make sure that it remains stable and can still work when injected.
If they rise to temperatures higher than this at any point between the lab and wherever they are administered from they could become chemically unstable and fail to work properly.
Dr Michael Head, global health expert at the University of Southampton, said: 'It has been reported that the vaccine requires storage at -70 degrees centigrade, and that is not necessarily routinely available in most health centres even in the UK, let alone globally.'
And Dr Al Edwards, a professor of biomedical technology at the University of Reading, added: 'The task of producing substantial amounts of a new vaccine and disturbing widely will be a challenge, not least for this particular formulation where ensuring that it can be appropriately frozen until needed and must not be allowed to thaw in transit.'
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR LOCKDOWNS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING?
Social distancing and lockdowns - known as 'non-pharmaceutical interventions' - will not come to an end as soon as a vaccine is proven to work.
It would take months to vaccinate enough people for it to actually impact on the spread of coronavirus among the public, especially if people who are more likely to be in care homes or shielding are the first ones to receive the jab.
Experts do not know exactly what proportion of people will need to be vaccinated to develop herd immunity, which is when the virus cannot cause outbreaks any more.
It is thought to be higher than two thirds, which means over 42 million people will need to have a working vaccine.
The UK has not ordered enough of Pfizer's vaccine to rely on that completely - although more could likely be bought in future - but it has ordered more than 300million doses of other vaccines that could work.
Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford, said on BBC Radio 4 this afternoon: 'I am really delighted with this result - it shows that you can make a vaccine against this little critter. Ninety percent is an amazing level of efficacy.
'It rolls the pitch for other vaccines because I can't see any reason now why we shouldn't have a handful of good vaccines.'
Asked if people could look forward to a return to normal life by the spring, Sir John replied: 'Yes, yes, yes, yes. I am probably the first guy to say that but I will say that with some confidence.'
WHAT DO SCIENTISTS SAY ABOUT THE PROGRESS?
Scientists from across the UK have today praised the results of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, saying it could spell an end to the pandemic.
Oxford University's Professor Peter Horby, who led the team that proved the steroid dexamethasone could save dying coronavirus patients, said: 'This news made me smile from ear to ear.'
While Dr Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline he was 'really pleased about this result'.
'You can almost begin to start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I just hope it's not an oncoming train.'
Despite offering a glimmer of hope, other scientists have said the results are still only early indications, so it is important to not get carried away.
Professor Brendan Wren, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: 'A 90 per cent efficacy for a phase three trial is excellent for a new vaccine that could make a huge difference.
'But more confirmatory safety and efficacy studies are required.
COVID VACCINE WON'T BE A SILVER BULLET AND IMMEDIATELY END THE PANDEMIC, EXPERTS WARN
A coronavirus vaccine won't immediately bring the pandemic to an end and scientists and officials must be honest about how long it will take to roll one out and get life back to normal, experts say.
Eight out of 10 people may need to have the jab before it becomes effective and getting this done will be a massive task for medical workers.
A report published today has called for realistic timescales to be laid out for the public about how long it might actually take to vaccinate enough people to thwart the spread of Covid-19.
Anti-vaxx conspiracy theories spreading online will make it harder to get rid of coronavirus, it warned, and more than a third of people in the UK already say they aren't sure whether they would get a vaccine.
And even if take-up is good, lockdowns and social distancing will still have to continue to keep the virus under control while medics scramble to get the vaccine to millions of people.
There is also the chance that that the jab won't work perfectly - experts have warned that the first vaccines may not be totally effective, meaning other measures might still be needed.
Oxford University sociologist Professor Melinda Mills and colleagues said clear communication about the vaccine will be a key part of 'expectation management' in coming months.
Scientists' attempts to make vaccines are hurtling forward at unprecedented speed around the world and results from late-stage clinical trials are expected from some teams before the end of 2020.
Experts say that it's likely at least one working vaccine will be ready to give to people by spring 2021, but it may not work perfectly and won't be available to everyone.
Britain's spy agency GCHQ has now launched an online campaign against anti-vaxx conspiracies that are being spread online by users in Russia.
Professor Eleanor Riley, an immunology and infectious disease expert at the University of Edinburgh, added: 'At face value, this is exceptionally good news.
'However, the full data set on which the claim is based has not yet been released and so we don't know exactly what has been found.'
Sir John Bell, medicine professor at the University of Oxford, welcomed the news but said the distribution of the vaccine would be 'challenging'.
'They will obviously start in the US – that's probably appropriate,' he told BBC Radio 4's The World at One. 'BioNTech is a German company so there will be, I am sure, doses made available for Europe.
'The UK has done a pre-approval agreement to purchase up 30 million doses of this vaccine, so we are very well prepared to get access to this vaccine when it becomes available.
'The manufacturing challenges are not small, so people need be ready to wait a bit to get it.'
HOW DOES THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY JAB DIFFER?
Oxford's is an adenovirus vector vaccine, which contains a weakened version of a chimpanzee cold virus that has been genetically changed to trigger the production of immune cells – antibodies and T-cells.
COULD MORE THAN ONE VACCINE BE USED BY THE UK?
Definitely. The Government has orders in place for 300 million doses from six different companies. If more than one is approved, the joint virus committee will decide which people will get which vaccines, depending on the trial data for different age groups. It is unlikely that two vaccines will be used in combination for the same person, at least in the near future – more research will be needed to see if that boosts protection or not.
DOES THIS MEAN AN END TO THE CURSED CORONAVIRUS?
No – and the Government was keen last night to stress adherence to social distancing rules. But if the vaccine is as effective as the results suggest it may mean an end to this phase of the pandemic. Some scientists last night suggested it might even mean a return to normality by spring.
HOW MANY PEOPLE NEED TO BE VACCINATED BEFORE WE TRULY KILL OFF COVID?
To see off the virus we need to achieve 'herd immunity', which will mean the virus can no longer spread from person to person and simply dies out. In normal circumstances every person with Covid affects three others – giving the infamous R-rate of 3. For the virus to die out the R rate needs to be reduced to 1. In order to achieve that, 60 per cent of the population would need to be vaccinated. Experts believe that if one or two more vaccines come through – and if they have anything like the same potential – that will be achievable in a year.
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
The vaccine will be provided by the NHS for free. It is unclear how much the Government's deal with Pfizer is worth, but the firm is reported to have struck deals with other nations for around £15 a dose.
