IT could take up to two years for a Covid-19 vaccine to be produced on a mass-scale, according to an Irish expert.
Dr Anthony Staines, Professor of Health Systems in DCU, made the claim as scientists around the world scramble to develop a vaccine to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
"We hope, and it's a miracle this can even be talked about, but we hope that it might be available in eight to 10 months," said Dr Staines.
"[But] it could take two years," he added.
While a vaccine could be found in a matter of months, or even weeks, developing it on a mass-scale, as well as being able to navigate it through all the necessary approval checks, will take time.
Due to this, any such vaccine isn't expected to be available in a hurry, despite efforts by some to suspend the time-consuming process of medication approval.
Dr Staines' comments came just hours after Health Minister Simon Harris said that social distancing will "remain part of life" until a vaccine is found and made available.
Speaking at a HSE briefing in Dublin on Tuesday, Harris said: "There isn't going to be a magic point at the start of May, where life as knew it [before coronavirus] can resume.
"I think, being truthful, social distancing is going to remain a very big part of life, not just in Ireland but the world over."
Despite this, Dr Staines suggested that it wouldn't be "feasible" for strict restrictions to remain in place for much longer.
"I don't think it's feasible that we continue as we are now, with a country effectively in lockdown," he explained.
"We don't know when a vaccine will be available."
