Britain Approves AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID Vaccine

NPR reports:

Health officials in the U.K. authorized the AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday, giving the nation a second option for inoculation against the coronavirus.

The government will begin rolling out the inexpensive and easy-to-store vaccine beginning Monday. It has ordered 100 million doses — enough to vaccinate 50 million residents, or three-quarters of the country’s population.

The government has already given first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to more than 600,000 Britons. U.K. Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock said Wednesday that between the two vaccines, the government will be able to protect the entire population.