Now that BioNTech-Pfizer has achieved coronavirus vaccine lightspeed, a weary Britain turns the stopwatch on its government

When BioNTech began work on a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in mid-January, the project was dubbed Lightspeed. The codename was blessedly prophetic.

And now, 324 days later, the obscure German company — which had never before brought a pharmaceutical to market — has achieved regulatory approval, propelling its scientific breakthrough into the annals of human endeavour.

The drug’s arrival into hospitals and surgeries across Britain, and soon everywhere else, marks an achievement that will rival the Moon landing in capturing the imagination of billions of people across the world.