Oxford Covid vaccine gets UK nod, 100 million doses to roll out from January 4

Oxford/AstraZeneca's Coronavirus vaccine has been approved for use in the United Kingdom.

The UK government accepted the recommendation from the Medicines and Healthcare products regulatory agency to authorise Oxford University/AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine for use.

According to UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock, the country has 100 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on order and that the rollout will begin on January 4, 2021.

In a statement, AstraZeneca said that the authorisation recommends 2 doses administered with an interval of between four and 12 weeks. 

This regimen was shown in clinical trials to be safe and effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19, with no severe cases and no hospitalisations more than 14 days after the second dose. 

Oxford and AstraZeneca had on November 23 announced that the regimen of a half dose followed by a full dose booster appeared to be 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 in the UK. Two full doses scored 62 per cent.

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