Forget any false sense of security: we are still at the start of the global pandemic | Jeremy Farrar

Until every country is protected, we are all at risk. Only effective vaccines and treatments will allow us to eradicate coronavirus

Dr Jeremy Farrar is director of the Wellcome Trust

Six months on from the first cases of Covid-19 emerging in Wuhan, many of us in Britain will be feeling a mixture of relief and trepidation as England's lockdown eases. The loosening of restrictions, alongside warmer weather, has brought hope. The UK government is understandably anxious to get society and the economy back on track. This is what we all want, and it's what scientists are striving to ensure.

Since the virus began to ripple across the world, scientists have worked at incredible speed to deepen our understanding of Covid-19. There have been advances in record time; more than 200 vaccine candidates are already in development, and a treatment identified, dexamethasone, that we now know saves lives. We've achieved in months what would normally take decades.