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UK regulator approves Moderna COVID-19 vaccine

08 January 2021 16:55 (UTC +04:00)

The U.K.’s regulator has approved Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for use in the country, the Department of Health said Friday, APA reports citing CNBC.

It is the third Covid shot approved for use in the U.K., following earlier approvals for the vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech, and Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

In a release, the department said the Moderna vaccine meets the “strict standards of safety, efficacy and quality” of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

It added that the U.K. had ordered an extra 10 million doses of the vaccine, taking its total to 17 million. They are expected to available from the spring.

The MHRA authorized the Moderna vaccine after months of rigorous clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people, the release said. It added that it is 94% effective in preventing Covid, including in the elderly.