UK and European regulators declare AstraZeneca vaccine ‘safe and effective’

UK and European regulators have declared the AstraZeneca vaccine is “safe and effective” and its benefits in protecting people from Covid far outweigh any risks. Boris Johnson, who said he’d be getting the AstraZeneca vaccine tomorrow, echoed those reassurances and said the route out of lockdown would not be delayed by a shortfall in vaccine supplies.

The latest 24-hour government figures show a further 95 people are reported to have died with Covid – bringing the UK total to just under a hundred and twenty six thousand. There have been another six thousand new cases in the UK. And another four hundred and sixty thousand people received their first dose of the Covid vaccine yesterday. Twenty five and three quarter million people have now received their first dose of a vaccine.