US President Donald Trump has said he hopes a Covid-19 vaccine will be available by the end of the year, and announced he was appointing a former pharmaceutical executive to spearhead the effort.

“We are looking to get it by the end of the year if we can, maybe before,” Trump said, as he delivered an update on the race for a vaccine.

“We think we are going to have some very good results coming out very quickly,” he told reporters in the Rose Garden of the White House.

Trump announced he would appoint Moncef Slaoui, the former head of GSK Vaccines, and four-star army general Gustave Perna, to lead “Operation Warp Speed”.