In a bid to expand the United Kingdom’s COVBID-19 immunization campaign, the UK has approved the use of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by scientists at the University of Oxford alongside the manufacturer, AstraZeneca. Health Secretary, Matt Hancock said the rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will commence January 4, 2021, adding that “and will really accelerate into the first few weeks of next year”.The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine, enough medicine to vaccinate 50 million people. This makes it the second vaccine to be approved after the Pfizer/BioNTech in December.
The UK is currently under another Lockdown after increasing levels of infections as well as the new mutant variant of the COVID-19 was discovered.
According to The Guardian, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that the administration of the vaccine should be done properly, with priority given to at-risk people.
“Everyone will still receive their second dose and this will be within 12 weeks of their first. The second dose completes the course and is important for longer-term protection,” said a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The decision to approve the vaccine followed “rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA, which has concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness”, the DHSC said.
