UK Edition
Results from the Oxford coronavirus vaccine may be available within weeks, with experts saying the Pfizer announcement raised hopes that other jabs would also prove successful.
Dozens of vaccine trials are currently under way around the world, and most are focusing on the spike protein that helps the virus attach to cells in the body.
The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine results have proven that targeting the protein can prevent people from picking up the disease, suggesting other vaccines will also work.
On Monday, Sir John Bell, leading the Oxford vaccine team, said results were due within weeks. Speaking to the BBC's World at One programme, he said: "Data from our first interim analysis is also likely to be available in the very near future, and by that I mean weeks not months.
"There are many pathogens where we've tried for decades and never managed to get a vaccine, you know, malaria, HIV. These are there lots of diseases where making vaccines have proved to be almost impossible, but they've managed to break through with this with a very, very good result."
Professor Robin Shattock, the lead for Imperial's Covid-19 vaccine, based on the same technology as the Pfizer jab, said it was good news for all candidates.
"Really encouraged to see this exciting announcement," he said. "Assuming it's supported by the data, then this not only represents a potential breakthrough for Pfizer/BioNTech, but also for vaccines in general.
"It also demonstrates the speed and utility of RNA vaccines technology. Hopefully this is the first of many vaccine candidates to be seen to work. A significant light at the end of the tunnel."
At a press conference on Monday, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer, said the announcement was a "huge milestone" because it proved that targeting the spike protein was effective at preventing infection.
"The current vaccine that is being announced targets the S protein of coronavirus, and so far all we knew is that vaccines could give us antibodies but we did not know if vaccines would prevent disease," he said.
"So this is a huge milestone. More importantly, it is good news for many of the vaccines to come, because almost all target the S protein so this is like getting to the end of getting to the end of the playoff final, it’s gone to penalties.
"The first player goes up, scores the goal. You haven't won the cup yet, but what it does is it tells you that the goalkeeper can be beaten. And that's where we are – that first sign."