The price being paid has not been revealed. The vaccines are being developed by the Belgian pharmaceutical company Janssen and the US biotech company Novavax.

It means the UK has placed orders for six experimental vaccines, taking its potential stockpile to 340 million doses. In theory, there should be enough for everyone in the UK to get five doses. Most of the vaccines require only two.

With most vaccine trials ending in failure, the government is effectively hedging its bets, hoping that at least one of the vaccines it has purchased proves safe and effective.

The government has now purchased experimental coronavirus vaccines that have been developed using four different scientific approaches:

• Adenovirus vaccines: 100 million doses Oxford University/AstraZeneca; 30 million doses Janssen
• mRNA vaccines: 30 million doses BioNTech/Pfizer
• Inactivated whole virus vaccines: 60 million doses Valneva
• Protein adjuvant vaccines: 60 million doses GSK/Sanofi; 60 million doses Novavax

It is possible that some indication on how effective they are could come in late autumn, but that is not guaranteed. The government says if the Janssen and Novavax vaccine trials go well, the first deliveries could take place in mid-2021.

By the end of the year, there could be at least half a dozen different coronavirus vaccines in clinical trials in the UK - and members of the public are being encouraged to register their interest online, because without medical volunteers we will not know if any of the vaccines actually works.

More volunteers are needed, researchers say. They want as many people as possible to enrol, to speed up their efforts to find a safe and effective jab. And they are particularly looking for more volunteers from the "high-priority groups" disproportionately affected by the virus - those belonging to ethnic minorities or aged over 65.

Volunteers can register online.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/corona...cine-research/

Kate Bingham, who chairs the UK's vaccine taskforce, said: "These trials are safe, please sign up. The quicker we get the clinical trials enrolled, vaccinated and get the results, the quicker we can get a vaccine."

Hundreds of thousands of volunteers will be needed. They will be given either one of the test vaccines or a placebo jab and then visit a hospital, or other research site, a few times over six to 12 months, where they will:

• be told about the research study
• have the chance to ask any questions
• have blood tests

Between visits, they will be asked to tell the research team about any symptoms they have and may need to keep a diary or take weekly throat and nose swab tests at home.

That's brilliant news if the vaccine works & with trials it'll be a fair while before the general public get it anyway. Don't think I'd want to be a guinea pig though.