Israel began clinical trials of a novel coronavirus vaccine, authorities said, AFP reported.

"We can see the light at the end of the tunnel," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv.

Early in the pandemic, Netanyahu tasked the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) with developing a vaccine against the virus.

Two volunteers, one at Sheba and another at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, received the vaccine on Sunday.

Israel will first test the vaccine on 80 people, before extending it to 980 in the second phase, and then 25,000 in the final stage.

The Israeli trial is one of around 40 "vaccine candidates" being tested worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).