'It's an incredibly infectious virus ... people are working seven days a week on this'

The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease COVID-19, has infected nearly three-quarters of a million people and taken the lives of more than 33,000.

No person in Australia is more qualified to speak on the science of this global pandemic than Professor Peter Doherty. Professor Doherty was awarded the Nobel prize for medicine in 1996 for his work studying the immune system. The Doherty Institute, now at the forefront of Australian research on the coronavirus, bears his name.

Scientists from The Doherty Institute were the first to successfully grow the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) from a patient sample. According to Professor Doherty, a COVID-19 vaccine could be available within 12-18 months.

In this episode of Politics with Michelle Grattan,