Coronavirus live news: Fauci predicts US will meet vaccine target; Beijing Winter Olympics under threat

By Alexandra Topping (now) and Helen Sullivan (earlier)

If Tokyo Games don’t go ahead, Beijing 2022 also likely to be cancelled; Fauci says US could make end-of-year target; Bolsonaro tests positive again

11.25am BST

Israel faces the prospect of a new lockdown as a new daily record of confirmed coronavirus cases was reached.

The country’s health ministry on Thursday reported 1,898 new cases of the virus, as it registered more than 44,500 total cases.

11.00am BST

Scientists around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus – and many believe at least one could be released early next year. According to the World Health Organization, about 23 vaccines are in clinical evaluation, and more than 130 are in development.

Biotech firm Moderna and the National Institutes of Health said their vaccine provoked a desired immune response in 45 individuals; it will move on to larger-scale testing at the end of the month. The University of Oxford, which has paired with drugmaker AstraZeneca to create another vaccine, said it was anticipating “positive news” on early trials of its drug.

Related: How quickly will there be a vaccine? And what if people refuse to get it?

Source: Coronavirus live news: Fauci predicts US will meet vaccine target; Beijing Winter Olympics under threat

Category: World news, Coronavirus outbreak, Science, Infectious diseases, UK news, US news, Australia news, Microbiology, Medical research