Britain today (Dec 30) became the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca as it battles a major winter surge driven by a new, highly contagious variant of the virus.

AstraZeneca said the authorisation was for a two-dose regime and that the vaccine had been approved for use for emergency supply. Britain has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine.

"The government has today accepted the recommendation from...