LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Britain hopes that the Oxford
AstraZeneca vaccine will be approved by the UK's independent
regulator, the MHRA, in the coming weeks, said the health
minister Matt Hancock.
"We very much hope that that will get approval...We hope
that to come through in the next couple of weeks," Hancock told
the BBC.
"It has to be a decision for the independent MHRA, who will
only approve it if it is safe to use and effective. So that
works underway. And I wouldn't expect anything for the next
couple of weeks."
Britain's vaccine task force chair Kate Bingham told the BBC
she was optimistic that it would be approved.
(Reporting by Sarah Young, editing by Estelle Shirbon)