Oxford-AstraZeneca Coronavirus Vaccine Approved For Use In UK

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the UK, the government has announced.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed that the government has already ordered 100 million doses of the vaccination, with the first doses expected to be administered as soon as Monday, January 4.

Combined with the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, which is already being administered here in the UK, the Oxford vaccine will cover every person in the UK; something Prime Minister Boris Johnson described as a ‘triumph’ for British science.

The vaccine, which has been produced here in the UK, was designed early into 2020, with the first volunteer receiving a dose back in April. Since then, the vaccination has been tested on thousands of people during robust clinical trials.

It is the second COVID-19 vaccine to be approved in the UK following the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which was given the green light by regulators earlier this month.

The announcement comes after 53,135 new cases of coronavirus were recorded in the UK on Tuesday, December 29, which is the biggest rise in cases in a single day since mass testing began. A total of 414 deaths were also recorded on the same day, all of which were within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test.

Chief medical officer Chris Witty described it as a ‘considerable collective effort that has brought us to this point’ of having the vaccine approved.