The United Kingdom in another step in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic has authorized use of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine making it the second vaccine, after it first approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in early December.
With the latest move, the shot is expected to be rolled out next week as the UK has ordered 100 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine – enough to vaccinate 50 million persons, according to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, this will cover the entire population, when combined with the full order of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.
According to government statistics, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been given to 600,000 persons in the U.K.
In a statement, AstraZeneca said the first doses of the vaccine were being released Wednesday “so that vaccinations may begin early in the New Year.”
U.K. government minister Michael Gove had said Monday that the approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine could accelerate the lifting of strict lockdowns in the country, which effectively canceled Christmas festivities for millions.
Millions more people in England are expected to be placed under the toughest tier four restrictions.
Britain registered a new daily record for coronavirus cases on Tuesday confirming a total of 53,135 new Covid cases in 24 hours, the highest single day rise since mass testing began.
Cases have been on the rise as the fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus makes its presence felt as the country also recorded 414 fatalities in a single day.