(Adds detail, quote)
LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Britain's medical regulator on
Friday approved Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for use, the health
ministry said, adding that it had agreed to purchase an
additional 10 million doses of the shot as it eyed a spring
rollout of the shot.
Three COVID-19 vaccines have now been approved for use in
Britain, with Pfizer/BioNTech's shot and one developed by Oxford
University and AstraZeneca already being rolled out.
Britain now has 17 million doses of Moderna's vaccine on
order, and supplies will begin to be delivered to the UK from
spring once Moderna expands its production capability.
"We have already vaccinated nearly 1.5 million people across
the UK and Moderna’s vaccine will allow us to accelerate our
vaccination programme even further once doses become available
from the spring," health minister Matt Hancock said.
Moderna's vaccine was 94% effective in preventing disease in
late stage clinical trials, and it has already been approved for
use in the United States, Canada and the European Union.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)