German Health Minister Jens Spahn on Thursday told ZDF television that he expected there would be a COVID-19 vaccine in the coming months and definitely next year.

"I'm optimistic that in the next months, and certainly in the next year, there can be a vaccine," Spahn said.

He declined to give a specific month and said it was not yet possible to say how often people would need to be vaccinated or how long-lasting the immunity it conferred would be.

He added: "But one thing we can say is that thanks to us all working together - researchers, scientists, the public - we will probably have a vaccine faster than ever before in the history of humanity."