First doses of UK coronavirus vaccine will be given to human volunteers on Thursday, Matt Hancock reveals

THE first doses of an experimental coronavirus vaccine will be given to human volunteers on Thursday, the Government has revealed.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that a potential jab which has been developed by Oxford University will begin to be tested in just two days.

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He also announced a boost of £20million to fund the clinical trials, as well as £22.5 million to Imperial College London for its coronavirus vaccine research.

Speaking at the Downing Street press briefing this evening, Mr Hancock said: "I can announce that the vaccine from the Oxford project will be trialled in people from this Thursday," he said.

"In normal times, reaching this stage would take years and I'm very proud of the work taken so far.

"At the same time, we will invest in manufacturing capability so that if either of these vaccines safely work, we can make it available for the British people as soon as humanely possible."

He also said the process for finding a vaccine would take "trial and error" but he has told UK scientists leading the search he would "back them to the hilt and give them every resource they need" in order to succeed.

"After all, the upside of being the first country in the world to develop a successful vaccine is so huge that I am throwing everything at it," said Mr Hancock.

The groundbreaking news today came as:

• The number of Brit's who have died jumped again this afternoon with another 800 reported - as new statistics showed a huge rise in deaths outside of hospitals
• Scientists said that the MMR vaccine used to prevent against measles, mumps and rubella could protect against coronavirus too
• Ministers revealed they were working with 150 UK firms to get vital PPE made and out to frontline medics
• But the number of tests was shown to be just HALF what Britain is capable of doing - yet the Government stuck by its promise to test 100,000 in just nine days' time
• Boris Johnson started some work again today with a call with the US President Donald Trump
• And Captain Tom Moore officially opened the NHS Nightingale hospital in Yorkshire today after raising £27million for the health service

Prof Sarah Gilbert, who is leading the Oxford team, said last week that a vaccine could be available for use by the general public by the autumn.

That is despite there being capacity for 39,250 tests to have been carried out over the same period.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said the Government was "absolutely standing by the target".

"We are increasing capacity, clearly we need to make sure that capacity is being used and that's what we are working on," he said.

Some 19,316 coronavirus tests were carried out in England, Wales and Scotland in the 24 hours up to 9am on Monday.

Asked about the gap in testing capacity and tests conducted, the PM's spokesman said: "Ministers have been very clear that any spare capacity should be used to test NHS and social care staff and their families.

"As a result of the increased capacity which we have available, other critical care workers can now also get tests so that they can continue their vital work on the frontline."

PPE delays

Meanwhile, a shipment of personal protective equipment (PPE) - including 400,000 badly-needed surgical gowns - remains in Turkey despite the presence of an RAF plane on stand-by to bring it to the UK.

The Government said, meanwhile, that 140,000 gowns had arrived from Burma - but with the NHS using 150,000 a day, the demand on resources remains intense.

The PM's spokesman blamed "unprecedented demand for PPE globally" for some of the difficulties faced by the UK and other countries.

"There are challenges in the supply of PPE, there have been problems in ensuring that PPE gets to the right place at the right time," he acknowledged.

"It's the job of Government to get PPE to staff in NHS and care sectors and we are working hard to do so."

With fears that staff in hospitals and care homes are risking their lives, the TUC called for an independent inquiry into the Government's handling of the issue to be mounted before the end of the year.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "This is a grotesque failure of planning and preparedness."