UK volunteers could be given the first dose of a potential coronavirus vaccine within the next week, researchers have said.

Experts at the University of Oxford are working hard to develop a vaccine that could prevent people from getting Covid-19.

The team hopes to have a candidate ready for clinical trials soon and aims to have at least a million doses available by around September.

Sarah Gilbert, a professor of vaccinology who is leading the team, said a vaccine could be available for use by the general public by the autumn. However, she stressed there are still unknown factors.

Gilbert explained previous comments in which she said she was 80% confident of the vaccine’s success. She said: “Personally, I have a high degree of confidence.

“This is my view because

I’ve worked with this technology a lot and I’ve worked on the Mers vaccine trials and I’ve seen what that can do.

“And, I think, it has a very strong chance of working.”

The researchers say it is important to make sure the vaccine can be manufactured at the required pace.

Professor Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at the university, said the team probably has the “most ambitious scale-up” programme of all the groups working on a vaccine.

He added: “We’re now moving to the point where instead of doing maybe a three-litre manufacturing run, we’re up to 50 litres will go to 100, 200, maybe even 2000.

“And we’re talking to manufacturers who can provide that sort of manufacturing service.“The aim is to have at least a million doses by around about September, once you know the vaccine efficacy results.

“And then move even faster from there because it’s pretty clear the world is going to need hundreds of millions of doses, ideally by the end of this year, to end this

pandemic, to let us out of lockdown.

“A vaccine is the exit strategy for this pandemic and then we’re very likely to need a vaccine in future years because it’s unlikely we’ll be able to eradicate this virus.”