UK Authorizes Coronavirus Vaccine From Oxford and AstraZeneca

The United Kingdom has become the first country to approve the use of the Oxford University and AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, which will be rolled out on January 4 and is cheaper than most rivals.

CNN’s Brooke Baldwin and Phil Black reported on the news on Wednesday, noting that this vaccine, unlike Pfizer’s, does not need to be kept at an ultra-low temperature, making both storage and distribution easier.

“You can get it to people with a lot less hassle, and so, roll it out more widely,” Black said. “That’s the idea.”

The British government is set to follow a new vaccination strategy, which will now prioritize giving the first dose, in a series of two, to as many people as possible before distributing the second dose up to 3 months later.

“The idea is that that will more quickly build up a certain level of immunity within the broader population, and it will do it relatively quickly,” Black added. “All of this is encouraging some degree of positivity in this country today, what is otherwise a very dark time because of this virus.”

The UK’s new strategy will apply both to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which is already being administered there.

“The government is making a pretty extraordinary prediction,” Black said. “It believes that come Spring, it now has the potential, effectively, to put the coronavirus behind the UK.”

On December 20, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that the country had 100 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on order, which when added to the 30 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, would be enough to vaccinate the UK’s entire adult population.

“Today’s news means that everyone who wants one can get a vaccine,” Hancock added during a Wednesday interview, noting that AstraZeneca is set to distribute more doses in February.

Watch above, via CNN.