for those who didnt see it11 May 2020 23:36
3 hours ago
No guarantee a vaccine will ever be found
Boris Johnson said there was no guarantee that there could be a vaccine for Covid-19, but was hopeful the UK was at the forefront of developing one.
“I’m hearing some very encouraging things from what’s going on at Oxford to achieve a vaccine,” he told the Downing Street briefing.
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 concerting 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.”
On developing a vaccine, the Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said it could never be guaranteed, conceeding:
“It’s a tough thing to do.”
But he said there were therapeutics and drug development programmes under way, adding:
I’d be surprised if we didn’t end up with something.”