Daily US Times: The UK authorities have approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, with the first doses due to be given on Monday.
There will be 530,000 doses available from next week in the UK, and vaccination centres will now start inviting patients to come and get the shot.
Priority groups to get vaccination have already been identified, starting with care home residents, the over-80s, and health and care workers.
It comes as millions more in the country are placed in tier four restrictions.
The United Kingdom has ordered 100 million doses of the new vaccine – enough to vaccinate 50 million people.
Eventually all over 50s and younger adults with health conditions will be offered a shot in the first phase of the rollout of the vaccine – more than 25 million people in total.
It is hoped that about two million patients a week could soon be immunised with two vaccines now approved.
On Tuesday, 53,135 new coronavirus cases were recorded in the UK – the highest single day rise since mass testing began – as well as 414 more deaths within 28 days of a positive test.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has authorised two full doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, with the second dose to be given four to 12 weeks after the first.
The vaccination campaign will now shift to giving as many people as possible their first dose of vaccine with a second dose following within that period.
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