Coronavirus: Top candidates for making a Covid-19 vaccine identified by WHO

The World Health Organization has announced some good news in the mission to find a vaccine for Covid-19.

Hundreds of scientists all over the world are taking part in the WHO's mission to find a vaccine.

WHO has said from these hundreds, there are seven to eight who are "top" candidates.

The Director General of WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "We are focusing on the few candidates we have which can bring probably better results and accelerating those candidates with better potential."

The director general has not yet revealed who the top candidates are

Last week leaders from 40 countries, as well as some businesses and banks donated 7.5 billion Euros (around £6.6 billion) to help researchers create and make enough of a vaccine.

However, Dr Tedros has asked world leaders for more money to give to the scientists.

He said the money would be used "to make sure that this vaccine reaches everyone — (and) there's no one being left behind".

The director general previously said it could take around 12 to 18 months for a vaccine to be ready but he said a big push is on its way.

In the UK, the government is investing money in a vaccine being developed at the University of Oxford.

Tests are already being carried out on people to see how they react to it. It is important to make sure the vaccine is effective and safe to use.

Prof Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the Jenner Institute, led the pre-clinical research.

"Personally I have a high degree of confidence in this vaccine," she said.

"Of course, we have to test it and get data from humans. We have to demonstrate it actually works and stops people getting infected with coronavirus before using the vaccine in the wider population."