The UK has approved a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca, becoming the first country in the world to do so.

The decision will expand the country’s immunisation drastically in a nation which has been hard-hit by the pandemic.

The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccinate, enough to vaccinate 50 million people at two doses each.

The approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine marks a turning point in the fight against the pandemic and means that the vaccine has the official stamp of being both safe and effective.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was first designed in the beginning of 2020 and has since undergoing large-scale clinical trials involving thousands of people.

It is the second vaccine to be approved by the UK – the first being the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine which was approved on December 3rd.

So far, more than 600,000 people in the UK have been vaccinated with the first person in the world, Margaret Keenan, completing her full treatment cycle yesterday.

The UK has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic with a new strain of the virus resulting in a major spike.

On Monday, Britain reported 41,385 new COVID-19 cases, the highest number since testing became widely available in mid 2020. Moreover, hospitals are under immense pressure with more patients being administer than during the first wave of the pandemic.

Malta is currently distributing doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine with the approval of the European Medicines Agency. The agency has yet to approve any other vaccine.

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