U.N. agencies have decided to name the new coronavirus "Covid-19," the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Under guidelines followed by the WHO, the World Organization for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization, the name for the new virus could not refer to specific geographical locations, animals or people. "Having a name matters in order to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference in Geneva.

The first vaccine targeting the coronavirus that has spread from China could be available in 18 months, said the WHO chief, adding: "So we have to do everything today using available weapons."