China has said that some vaccines for the novel coronavirus could be in clinical use next month as the number of global coronavirus cases soared past 100,000.

The country's scientists are striving to develop immunisation products with five technologies simultaneously, according to officials.

'We estimate that in April - in line with country's relevant law and regulations – there is hope that some of the vaccines can enter the stage of clinical or emergency use,' said Zheng Zhongwei, director of the Technical Development and Research Centre of China's National Health Commission.

Chinese health officials have claimed the country's scientists are developing vaccines with five technologies. The picture shows an Israeli scientist working at a laboratory at the MIGAL Research Institute in Kiryat Shmona in the upper Galilee in northern Israel on March 1

China's National Health Commission expects the first vaccines to be in 'clinical or emergency use' next month. The picture shows China's President Xi learning about the progress on the vaccine development at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences in Beijing on March 2

Mr Zheng added: 'The novel coronavirus is a new virus. We need a process to explore and understand it.

'The same applies to the development of vaccines. We need to solve problems gradually as we continue to explore and deepen [the research].'

Mr Zheng made the comments at a press conference today held by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council of China.

The official said a special team had been set up to take the charge of the development of vaccines for the coronavirus.

The news was delivered today at a press conference by Zheng Zhongwei (pictured), director of the Technical Development and Research Centre of China's National Health Commission

Multiple research teams have begun developing vaccines for the disease since an outbreak emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei Province late last year. The picture shows a researcher working on a vaccine at Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) in London

After reviewing dozens of companies, the team selected eight of them to create the first vaccines at the same time using five different methods.

One of the inoculation candidates is an inactivated vaccine. It uses the killed version of the germ that causes the disease to stimulate human bodies to create antibodies.

Another is a subunit vaccine. It enlists genetic engineering to replicate the Spike protein, or S protein, for stimulating therapeutic immune responses in human bodies.

A third possibility, a nucleic acid immunisation, includes two subtypes: an mRNA vaccine and a DNA vaccine.

The method injects encoded S protein into humans to prompt their bodies to produce more S protein. The process is expected to stimulate receivers to create antibodies.

The remaining two options are carrier vaccines, one with adenoviruses and the other with reduced influenza viruses.

Mr Zheng said experts were already testing the effectiveness and safety of all of the five vaccines on animals.

Globally, at least 3,402 people have died and more than 100,190 have contracted the infection

Coronaviruses are so named because their structure has jagged edges which look like a royal crown - corona is crown in Latin (Pictured, an illustration of the COVID-19 virus released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Professor Huang Jinhai from Tianjin University said he and his team had developed an oral vaccine and were looking for partners. The picture shows medics working in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital designated for COVID-19 patients in Wuhan on February 24

Last week, a team of Chinese scientists revealed that they had developed an oral vaccine for the coronavirus using baker's yeast.

The news was announced by Professor Huang Jinhai from the School of Life Sciences at Tianjin University and reported by state newspaper People's Daily.

Prof Huang claimed to have taken four doses of the drug without having any side effects.

However, the expert said the product was still 'far from' being sold on the market because it needed to pass animal tests and clinical trials.

Multiple research teams have begun developing vaccines for the disease since an outbreak emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei Province late last year.

Last month, a Russian diplomatic mission in China said that Russia and China were working to develop a vaccine and that Beijing had handed over the genome of the virus to Moscow.

Jack Ma, the 55-year-old founder of e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba, has donated 100million yuan (£11million) to help scientists develop the vaccine for the deadly coronavirus. The self-made entrepreneur announced the generous aid last month through his foundation

Scientists in China and around the world are striving to create the first vaccine for the coronavirus. In the picture taken on October 18, scientists are seen working in a laboratory of Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. The organisation is researching a vaccine for novel coronavirus

Johnson & Johnson is one of the drugmakers that have begun work on developing a vaccine for the coronavirus.

Jack Ma, China's richest man, donated 100million yuan (£11million) to help scientists develop anti-coronavirus inoculations.

While the United States pledged $2.5billion (£1.9billion) to fight the disease, with more than $1billion (£770million) going towards developing a vaccine.

The new coronavirus outbreak has now infected more than 100,000 people worldwide.

Slovakia, Serbia and Peru today became the latest countries to confirm cases of the killer infection.

The global toll surged into six figures, with South Korea, Iran and Italy all recording huge spikes amid fears the escalating crisis will only continue to worsen.

At least 3,400 people have already died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus – meaning roughly 3.4 per cent of known cases die.

Inside China, the epidemic has killed at least 3,042 people and infected more than 80,500.