UNITED NATIONS: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday said the organization hoped that there would be about two billion doses of vaccine against COVID-19 by the end of next year.

Speaking at a virtual news conference in Geneva, Chief Scientist of WHO Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said that she was encouraged by the number of possible vaccines currently being tested.

She hoped that at least one or two vaccines would prove ready for use by next year.

Also Read: Coronavirus cases in Pakistan soar to 165,062

The number of coronavirus infection cases across the world has surpassed over eight point five million while the pandemic has so far claimed more than 455,000 lives.

The United States tops with over two point two million cases and more than 120,000 deaths.

Brazil with over 983,000 cases and more than 47,000 deaths is the second badly hit by the virus.

Over four point five million patients have so far recovered from the disease across the world.