Britain on December 2 approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on independent advice of its medicines regulator.

The vaccine will be made available across the UK from next week. "The Government has today accepted the recommendation from the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for use," a UK Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said in a statement.

Experts at the MHRA have concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness after months of rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data. Care home residents, health and care staff, the elderly and the clinically extremely vulnerable will receive the vaccine on priority basis. "The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) will shortly publish its final advice for the priority groups to receive the vaccine," the spokesperson said.