A coronavirus vaccine may not be available until the middle of next year, Germany’s minister for research Anja Karliczek warned Wednesday, as she announced further government funding to help accelerate the research and development process.

“Researchers are working at an unbelievable speed, but of course setbacks are always possible,” Karliczek said.

“We can’t expect miracles and most expect that vaccines for the vast majority of the population will only be available in the middle of next year, at the earliest,” she added.

Karliczek, speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday, said the German government would offer financial support to three labs currently developing coronavirus vaccines.

The three labs – led by pharmaceutical companies Biontech, Curevac and IDT Biologica – will share a grant of €750 million from the German health ministry, she said.

Officials hope the funding will help to accelerate both the research and development of the potential vaccines, while also increasing production capacity, Karliczek added.

“The three vaccine candidates are all very promising, but there can always be setbacks in the trials,” Karliczek said.

There are currently 25 vaccine candidates in the clinical evaluation stage of development and a further 139 at the preclinical stage, according to the World Health Organization.