Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that he was “highly confident” that the UK will be out of the current Covid crisis by spring 2021.
Speaking shortly after it was announced that the UK has licensed a second coronavirus vaccine, Mr Hancock said: “We now know with a degree of confidence that we will be out of this by the spring.”
According to reports, the Oxford University-AstreZenca vaccine is cheap and quick to mass produce – and unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine it can be stored in a normal fridge. This is expected to significantly speed up the vaccination programme across the UK.
Mr Hancock confirmed that the Government has ordered 100 million doses of the AstreZeneca vaccine – enough for 50 million people – which will start to be rolled out across the UK from Monday 4 January.
Protection will kick in two weeks after the first dose but for long-term protection a second dose will be needed after 90 days.
