UK Residents Could Receive The AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine As Early As Monday

The UK approved a new COVID-19 vaccine that was developed by Oxford University, AstraZeneca on Wednesday and residents could start receiving it as early as Monday, Jan.4.

AstraZeneca is similar to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in regards to it being a two-dose shot. After receiving the first dose of the AstraZeneca, patients will have to return to receive the second dose a few weeks later.

This vaccine is said to be between 62% and 90% effective, whereas the Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective.

The makers of the vaccine have promised to increase current production to 2 million shots a week by the middle of January, Business Insider explains.

The UK has even ordered 100 million doses so they can vaccinate at least 50 million people in this first phase.

“About 530,000 AstraZeneca doses will be available on Monday, with an additional 407,000 doses expected to be added soon,” Channel 4 News reported.

What makes this vaccine stand-out from the Pfizer one is that this shot doesn’t need any special refrigeration at low temperatures. It can be stored for a number of months in just a regular refrigerator.

Similar to the Pfizer vaccine, there are groups that are in line to receive it first. Those who are over 80, health care workers and those that live in care home facilities are the first in line next week to get the shot.

It’s uncertain if patients get to decide which vaccine they receive, but Britain is just trying to get all residents vaccinated at this point since COVID-19 cases have been skyrocketing.

Tuesday was the highest single day of new cases the country saw since the approval of the vaccine, coming in at 54,135.

Over 600,000 UK residents have been vaccinated thus far.