Northamptonshire schoolgirl now leading bid to beat bug which has claimed 213 lives in county

A former Northamptonshire school student is now a top scientist leading the hunt for a Covid-19 vaccine.

Latest NHS figures today revealed the deadly bug had claimed 213 victims in the county's two acute hospitals, as at 5pm last night (April 23).

Two further deaths were recorded at Northampton General taking the total at the Cliftonville site to 128 since the first deaths in the county on March 16.

Staff at Kettering General Hospital have added seven more victims, making a total of 85.

Nationwide, the death toll in NHS hospitals has now reached 19,506 — a rise of 768 in 24 hours.

The Government's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty has waned social distancing restrictions will need to continue for up to a year until a vaccine is available to combat the deadly bug.

But University of Oxford professor of vaccinology Sarah Gilbert's team started human trials on a vaccine yesterday and are targeting September to get the job done.

Prof Gilbert, who went to Oxford after getting nine O-Levels at Kettering High School — including an incredible six A grades — is "80 per cent confident" she can pull it off.

She said: “I think there’s a high chance that it will work based on other things that we have done with this type of vaccine.

"It’s not just a hunch and as every week goes by we have more data to look at.”

Read all about Prof Sarah Gilbert's days in Kettering at the website of our sister paper the Northants TelegraphA message from the Editor:

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