Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has been authorised in the UK. Here’s why this is a key moment

The UK has become the first country to authorise the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for public use, with roll-out to start in the first week of 2021. This vaccine is the second to be authorised in the UK — following the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The British Government has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine, enough to vaccinate 50 million people. Other countries will be watching closely: Australia has ordered over 50 million doses, Canada 20 million, and worldwide over 2.5 billion doses have been pre-ordered.

AstraZeneca expects to be able to supply large numbers of doses within the first quarter of 2021.