Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid jab can now be rolled out globally and participate in Covax; South Africa opens borders; Brazil deaths pass 240,000
- UK to consider offering excess vaccine doses to other countries
- Israel battles Covid misinformation as vaccination drive slows
- Seventy per cent of Australians think border should stay closed
- Postponement of ski resort reopenings prompts anger in Italy
- See all our coronavirus coverage
The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus jab for emergency use, meaning the vaccine can be rolled out globally and participate in the Covax programme that aims to bring vaccines to poorer countries.
A WHO statement said it had approved the vaccine as produced by AstraZeneca-SKBio (Republic of Korea) and the Serum Institute of India.
The listing by the UN health agency comes days after a WHO panel provided interim recommendations on the vaccine, saying two doses with an interval of around 8 to 12 weeks must be given to all adults, and can be used in countries with the South African variant of the coronavirus as well.
The AstraZeneca/Oxford shot has been hailed because it is cheaper and easier to distribute than some rivals, including Pfizer/BioNTech’s, which was listed for emergency use by the WHO late in December.
The UK will look at making excess doses of coronavirus vaccinations available to other nations after it has vaccinated its adult population, vaccine deployment minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Monday.
“My priority is to make sure I vaccinate the UK adult population as quickly as we can and then if there are any excess doses, we will look at how we make those excess doses available to other countries,” Zahawi told LBC radio.
