When Sarah Gilbert heard about a mysterious new respiratory infection spreading in China in early January, she immediately wondered whether this was the long-dreaded Disease X — a previously unknown pathogen that would cause a catastrophic pandemic.

The vaccinology professor at Oxford university’s Jenner Institute had been preparing for just such a momentous event. Her lab had developed technology to create vaccines against virulent viruses. As soon as Chinese scientists published genetic details of the new coronavirus — providing a target for vaccine development — she moved ahead at full speed.

This week, Oxford published encouraging results from the first phase of testing of its ChAdOx1 vaccine, showing it generated antibodies and immune cells to recognise and kill the Sars-Cov-2 virus responsible for Covid-19.