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LONDON (REUTERS) – The UK will roll out the University of Oxford’s Covid-19 vaccine from January 4, according to plans being drawn up by ministers, The Sunday Telegraph reported on Saturday (December 26).
The government hopes to administer the first dose of the Oxford vaccine, which has been licensed to the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, or the Pfizer vaccine to 2 million people over the next two weeks, the newspaper said.
The Oxford vaccine is expected to be approved by medical regulators in a few days, the newspaper said.
Commenting on the Sunday Telegraph report, Britain’s Department of Health said on Sunday that the medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) should have time to carry out its review of the data from the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
“Now we must give the MHRA time to carry out its important work and we must await their advice,” said a spokesman for the Department of Health.
The UK recorded 210 deaths from Covid-19 on Saturday, up from 570 the day before, while cases jumped from 1,968 to 34,693, the government said, citing partial data.
The latest R number is estimated at 1.1 to 1.3, the government said.
The UK has recorded a death toll of 70,405, defined as those who die within 28 days of a positive test. Under this measure, it has the sixth highest toll in the world, after the United States, Brazil, India, Mexico and Italy.
A broader measure of those who die with Covid-19 on their death certificates puts the death toll in the UK at 79,349.
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