The Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine has been approved for use in the UK, with the first doses due to be given on Monday amid rising coronavirus cases. The UK has ordered 100 million doses – enough to vaccinate 50 million people.
This will cover the entire population, when combined with the full order of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said. Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the vaccine development a triumph for British science, adding: “We will now move to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible.”
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And England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty praised the considerable collective effort that has brought us to this point. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Hancock said it marked a significant moment in the fight against the virus, adding that 2021 can be a year of hope and recovery because we can see our way out of the pandemic.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine was designed in the first months of 2020, tested on the first volunteer in April, and has since been through large-scale clinical trials involving thousands of people. It is the second jab to be approved in the UK after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was given the go-ahead in December. AstraZeneca’s chief executive Pascal Soriot told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the company will “progressively ramp up” the vaccination programme, and will be able to deliver up to two million doses a week.
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