Prince William wears mask to visit Oxford team working on coronavirus vaccine

The Duke of Cambridge was spotted chatting to staff and volunteers at Churchill Hospital

(PA)

The Duke of Cambridge has paid a visit to the team at the University of Oxford that is working on a vaccine for Covid-19.

On Wednesday, Prince William was seen wearing a face mask as he spoke to the team of medical staff and volunteers taking part in clinical trials.

The 38-year-old royal also wore a protective coat and goggles over a light blue blazer and shirt.

During the visit, Prince William spoke to Professor Sarah Gilbert, who works at the Jenner Institute in Oxford and developed the vaccine.

The Royal also chatted to Professor Andrew Pollard from the Paediatric Infection and Immunity department at the University of Oxford.

Professor Pollard is leading the clinical trial team for the vaccine.

The Oxford vaccine, as it's referred to, has already entered into the latter stages of the clinical pathway.

The Jenner Institute has entered into a private-public partnership with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to accelerate the development of its vaccine.

The candidate has already passed the initial Phase 1 stage, which verifies its safety, and last month researchers begin recruiting 10,000 people, including adults over 56 and children aged five to 12, for Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the trials.

It was also announced last week that AstraZeneca had reached a £586m agreement with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, and the Serum Institute of India to support the manufacturing, procurement and distribution of 300 million doses of the vaccine, with delivery starting by the end of the year.

It has not been confirmed when the vaccine would be ready if the trials are successful. However, Pascal Soriot, the chief executive of the drug company, told The Andrew Marr show that British people would be among the first to gain access to the vaccine, and that it could be ready by September.

Another vaccine is in development at Imperial College London, with the team there saying their vaccine could be ready in the first half of 2021.