WHILST exciting news broke yesterday about a potential coronavirus vaccine, it does not mean life can return to normal just yet.

Here is everything you need to know about the new jab, what other vaccines are in development and what the experts have to say.

What is Pfizer?

Pfizer is an US based pharmaceutical company.

Pfizer was the first company to mass produce penicillin and they are were responsible for developing the well know erectile dysfunction medication Viagra.

Is a vaccine is ready?

The preliminary findings that suggest the vaccine, developed by Pfizer and the German biotech company BioNTech, is more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19.

But it this does not mean the vaccine is ready as it has not yet received regulatory approval.

The vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries and no safety concerns have been raised.

Pfizer is now planning to apply to the US regulator the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency approval to use the vaccine by the end of the month.

Is it safe?

All vaccines undergo rigorous testing and have oversight from experienced regulators.

Pfizer’s is known as a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine.

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.

Could it be ready to rollout before Christmas?

Basingstoke Gazette:

Dr Richard Vautrey, chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP committee in England said practices would “stand ready” to deliver the vaccine, with clinics potentially running from 8am-8pm, seven days a week.

Deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam told a Downing Street press conference he was “hopeful” there would be “some vaccine by Christmas”.

He said: “Frankly, we’re in the middle of the second wave, and I don’t see the vaccine making any difference for the wave we are now in.

“I’m hopeful that it may prevent future waves, but this one we have to battle through to the end without a vaccine.

“This is a very important scientific breakthrough. I am certain of that.

“I am hopeful because of all that, but not yet certain that we could begin to see some vaccine by Christmas.”

Who will get be able to get the vaccination?

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has examined data on who suffers the worst outcomes from coronavirus and who is at highest risk of death.

Its provisional guidance says that older adults in care homes and care home workers should get priority, followed by those aged 80 and over, and health and social care workers.

Mr Hancock said it had always been his expectation that most people will not get a jab until 2021.

He said the vaccine would not be required for children and that uptake would be voluntary.

How will people be vaccinated?

Basingstoke Gazette: Health Secretary Matt Hancock (Image: PA Media)Health Secretary Matt Hancock (Image: PA Media)

The military and NHS staff are said to be on standby to roll out a Covid-19 vaccine across the UK from the start of December.

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.

“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 told BBC Breakfast.

Does this mean life will return to normal soon?

Dr Charlie Weller, head of the vaccines programme at the Wellcome Trust, said a vaccine is not a silver bullet, and is only one tool in tackling coronavirus.

She told the PA news agency: “We do need to be realistic about what a successful vaccine can offer.

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean that we’ll wake up tomorrow, we’re all given the vaccine and the pandemic ends.

“But it does give us that light at the end of the tunnel, that hope and that positivity that there is going to be an end to this pandemic.”

Dr Weller said: “But even when – I’m being very optimistic here – when the full data comes out, and that vaccine can be rolled out, this is like the best case scenario, we still won’t have enough doses for everyone.

“And this is why we need a range of vaccines, as well as treatments, and continuing those public health measures of social distancing and wearing masks.”

She added that a vaccine rollout at this scale had never been attempted in the UK and would be a huge logistical challenge.

How does the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine differ to Pfizer’s?

The vaccine – called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 – uses a weakened version of a common cold virus which causes infections in chimpanzees, but has been genetically changed so it is impossible for it to grow in humans.

Scientists have transferred the genetic instructions for coronavirus’s specific “spike protein” – which it needs to invade cells – to the vaccine.

This enables the human body to identify coronavirus and create an immune system response.

Pfizer’s jab is a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine.

An mRNA vaccine is injected into the body where it enters cells and tells them to create antigens.

These antigens are recognised by the immune system and prepare it to fight coronavirus.

No actual virus is needed to create an mRNA vaccine.