Donald Trump was given a slideshow explaining how long it takes to develop a vaccine after he clashed with the nation’s top health expert on the timeline to fight coronavirus.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had to use pictures to show the president the work that was being done in his lab after he pushed for a jab to be made ‘within a couple of months’.

Health experts have repeatedly said it will be at least a year before a vaccine for COVID-19 will be available to the public.

Trump told a cabinet room briefing on Monday that a vaccine ‘or even a cure’ would be available in half that time – forcing Fauci to step in and contradict him in front of the country’s top pharmaceutical executives.

However his attempts to reason with the US leader fell on deaf ears, with Trump telling him ‘I like the sound of a couple of months better’.

After their spat, the president visited the National Institute of Health (NIH), where Fauci lay out the timeline for a vaccine in pictures to get his message across.

‘I just want to connect what we’ve been talking about the past few weeks,’ Fauci, 79, told the president.

An aide then pulled up a slide that outlined how long it took officials to respond to coronavirus compared to other infectious diseases.

Coronavirus had the shortest time frame when it came to testing a potential vaccine.

The timetable showed how Fauci’s team have made the same progress in two months that scientists working on the SARS vaccine made in 20 months.

Fauci said his team were reaching phase one – when a vaccine is ready to be tested on humans.

But he cautioned the president not to be too optimistic, saying: ‘Remember this doesn’t mean that is the vaccine.’

The World Health Organization (WHO) has already said it will take up to 18 months to develop a vaccine for Covid-19 – a time frame much shorter than the usual two- to five-year window.

Vaccines need to be developed, tested for effectiveness and safety during trials, approved by regulators and manufactured before they can be distributed.

Trump’s meeting at the NIH came as a ninth person died of Coroanvirus in the US.

Over 100 cases have been confirmed in the US, with more almost certain in the coming weeks.

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