Experts last night told of their joy over the development of an effective vaccine that may have Britain taking its first tentative steps out of the pandemic within weeks.
Care home staff and elderly residents may start being inoculated before Christmas, if the two-dose jab is approved by UK regulators.
The programme is expected to be rolled out in the rest of the population next year. It sparked hopes of a return to normal by the spring, after months of misery in a seemingly endless battle against Covid, that has so far resulted in 61,498 deaths.
Trials analysis has shown the vaccine, produced by US drugs giant Pfizer and German tech firm BioNTech, is 90% effective. The Government has secured access to 40 million doses.
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