London, November 2: A single vaccine may not act as a silver bullet against coronavirus, which has triggered a global pandemic, suggested UK Business Secretary Alok Sharma. His remarks, on Monday, came while addressing a Confederation of British Industry conference. He sounded hopeful of a vaccine launch by early next year, but added that more measures would be required to control the health crisis.

Sharma told the industry leaders that pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, which is developing the vaccine against COVID-19 in coordination with Oxford University, has made steady developments and is on the track to rollout the vaccine by early 2021. However, he also acknowledged the claims made by scientists that the vaccine alone may not crush the disease. UK Announces 2nd 'Stay-at-Home Lockdown' for Four Weeks Starting November 5, Schools Exempted.

"Now whilst there has been rapid progress we recognise that a vaccine which fully eliminates the virus may never materialise," the top official of the Boris Johnson government added.

Sharma's statement comes ahead of the imposition of a total lockdown, beginning from Thursday, that will severely restrict public movement and close down all leisure services including restaurants, bars, pubs, spas, gyms, etc. Only essential service shops and service providers will be exempted.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, while addressing the press at No 10 Downing Street on Saturday, said schools would also be exempted from the lockdown. The strict set of curbs would remain in place for four weeks, he said, adding that the move is necessitated to "save thousands of lives" in the UK during the winter season.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 02, 2020 06:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).