World news: Britain could be ready to deploy a Covid-19 vaccine by December

The NHS was instructed to prepare for the possible deployment of a Covid-19 vaccine at the start of December, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News.

“I’ve asked the NHS - who are supported by the armed services in this, but the NHS are very much leading this effort for deploying the vaccine – I’ve asked them to be ready from the start of December,” the secretary said.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock tells @skynewsniall he has asked the NHS to be ready to deploy a vaccine "from the start of December", but adds that there are "many hurdles that still need to be gone over".#KayBurley
Latest on the search for a vaccine: https://t.co/JHUWRFz86z pic.twitter.com/yK8pFH7ih1
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) November 10, 2020

He said the hopeful stand-by order comes with all the caveats, since the formula is yet to be fully tested and licensed, but the country should be ready to roll it out, if those hurdles are overcome quickly.

"This is not for children"
Health Secretary Matt Hancock tells #BBCBreakfast the potential breakthrough #coronavirus vaccination is "an adult vaccine".https://t.co/j2DeEZYO9K pic.twitter.com/A8UOAVjUoB
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) November 10, 2020

Speaking later with the BBC, Hancock said the vaccine was meant for adults, and not children and that vaccination will start with elderly people and go down the age groups.

Earlier a report by Pfizer and BioNTech said their Covid-19 vaccine had proven to be 90 percent effective during clinical trials.