The scientist behind a coronavirus vaccine believe that people in the UK could start to be inoculated by mid-December.
Prof Ugur Sahin, the son of Turkish migrants, said the news that the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine was 90 per cent effective was an "outstanding result".
Prof Sahin and his wife Ozlem Tureci, who is also of Turkish origin, worked on the vaccine at BioNTech, a company they founded in 2008 in Germany.
"The earliest time point for supplying vaccines will not be before the middle of December,” he said.
"And the middle of December will not mean the situation will dramatically change. This will be a difficult winter. It will become worse before it becomes better.
"We could return to normal life by the middle of next year."
He was asked about the pressure he was under to design a vaccine as 1.29 million people have died from Covid-19.
“It's not a race against each other, it's a race against time," said Prof Sahin, 55.
He said that he would be prepared to take his vaccine if he were permitted.
He also told how he had a head start on the vaccine after reading a scientific paper on a coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China.
Prof Sahin said he was struck by how similar his antibody drugs for cancer were to those needed for viral vaccines.
From there, BioNTech assigned 500 people to work on possible compounds, and won support from Pfizer and Chinese drug maker Fosun.
"It was clear that there was a high likelihood it would be a global pandemic and it would come to Germany," Prof Sahin told Sky News.
"It was a logical decision to start as soon as possible. It was very clear that we had no time to lose."
Profile of Foodics
Founders: Ahmad AlZaini and Mosab AlOthmani
Based: Riyadh
Sector: Software
Employees: 150
Amount raised: $8m through seed and Series A - Series B raise ongoing
Funders: Raed Advanced Investment Co, Al-Riyadh Al Walid Investment Co, 500 Falcons, SWM Investment, AlShoaibah SPV, Faith Capital, Technology Investments Co, Savour Holding, Future Resources, Derayah Custody Co.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME DISPUTE
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
SHAITTAN
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
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