Donald Trump has called the coronavirus vaccine trials which have been found to be 90% effective as “great news” – but is still refusing to concede to Joe Biden over the election.

The outgoing US president did not refer to Mr Biden‘s victory in his latest message on Twitter, instead focusing on the vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

Phase 3 of trials involving more than 40,000 participants from six countries showed that 90% were protected from the virus within 28 days of having the jab.

Mr Trump tweeted: “STOCK MARKET UP BIG, VACCINE COMING SOON. REPORT 90% EFFECTIVE. SUCH GREAT NEWS!”

Ironically, world stock markets had not only been hitting record highs in response to the news about the vaccine, but also to expectations global trade ties will improve under a Biden presidency.

Mr Biden welcomed the news about the trials, but warned that widespread vaccination remains months away.

He urged Americans to continue to wear masks and maintain social distancing.

In a statement, he said: “Today’s announcement promises the chance to change that next year, but the tasks before us now remain the same.”

President-elect Biden and his team have been working on his transition ahead of when he moves into the White House in January.

Mr Biden has been putting together a coronavirus taskforce to tackle the pandemic which has killed more than 237,000 Americans.

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The panel of experts includes Rick Bright, a whistleblower and leading scientist who says he was removed from his Trump administration post for raising concerns about the challenges faced by the US in tackling COVID-19.

It comes as Mr Trump refuses to acknowledge his election defeat and continues to make claims of election fraud for which he has produced no evidence.

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