Last checked at 
* UK ahead of others once more with emergency approval
* Britain has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine
* Health minister eyes route out of pandemic by spring
* Regulator advocates new timing of first and second doses
* Britain to prioritise first shots over boosters
(Adds detail)
By Alistair Smout and Paul Sandle
LONDON, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Britain on Wednesday became the
first country in the world to approve the coronavirus vaccine
developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, hoping
that rapid action will help it stem a record surge of infections
driven by a highly contagious form of the virus.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government, which has ordered
100 million doses, had already fast-tracked approval of a
vaccine developed by Pfizer of the United States and Germany's
BioNTech, and administered hundreds of thousands of shots weeks
ahead of European Union countries and the United States.
Though cheaper and easier to distribute than rival vaccines,
the Oxford/AstraZeneca shot has been plagued with questions
about its most effective dosage ever since data published last
month showed some surprising results.
While other regulators have taken a more cautious approach,
Britain's MHRA was at pains to say it had resolved early doubts
and - unexpectedly - that it had found an 80% success rate for
the administration of two full doses, three months apart, higher
than the average that the developers themselves had found.
The government plans to take advantage by giving the first
dose to a larger number of people most at risk from COVID-19
before starting to administer the boosters. An advisory body
recommended doing the same with the Pfizer shot.
Jeremy Farrar, one of Britain's leading public health
experts, said the approval was to be celebrated, but urged
continuing scrutiny, saying:
"We will ... need to continue tracking and improving our
understanding of how long the protection lasts and whether (the
vaccines) can prevent transmission. This would be best achieved
by a randomised trial on the timing of the second dose."
INFECTIONS SOAR
Britain has already registered over 70,000 deaths from
COVID-19. On Tuesday it reported a record one-day jump of 53,135
new coronavirus infections, and it fears hospitals will soon
become overstretched in their peak winter months.
The AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine could also be a game-changer
for global immunisation. Countries with relatively basic health
infrastructure have high hopes for a shot that, unlike Pfizer's,
can be stored and transported under normal refrigeration, rather
than supercooled to -70 degrees Celsius (-94 Fahrenheit).
India's Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's biggest
producer of vaccines, has made about 50 million doses of the
Oxford vaccine, and experts at India's drug regulator were
meeting on Wednesday to consider an emergency approval, two
sources said. Chile is also interested.
World Health Organization spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said the
latest vaccine was important for its "delivery attributes, the
potential scale and affordability".
Helen Fletcher, Professor of Immunology at the London School
of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, hailed a "turning point" for
the pandemic, which has already killed 1.7 million people around
the world, sown chaos through the global economy and upended
normal life for billions.
"With more than 30 supply agreements and partner networks
established globally, the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine could slow
the pandemic and should save many lives within the next year."
EU DECISION SOON?
The EU regulator says it has not yet received full data on
the AstraZeneca shot and is unlikely to be able to approve it
next month - although Germany's top vaccine official said that a
rolling review of data meant a quick decision should be
possible.
The UK's COVID-19 vaccine chair, Wei Shen Lim, said a single
dose of Oxford/AstraZeneca's vaccine was around 70% effective
from 21 days until a second dose was given at 12 weeks.
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
(MHRA) cleared up one doubt raised by the Oxford data, saying
that a 90% success rate for a half-dose followed by a full dose
had not stood up to analysis.
However, Munir Pirmohamed, chair of a government working
group on COVID-19 vaccines and involved in the approval, said
that, when two full doses were given three months apart,
"effectiveness was high, up to 80% ... which is the reason for
our recommendation".
A Reuters investigation detailed how the apparently more
effective dosing regime was the result of a miscalculation.
AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot told BBC radio
that Britain should be able to vaccinate tens of millions of
people by the end of the first quarter. The firm said it
expected the vaccine to work against the new variant.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News that he was
"highly confident that we can get enough vulnerable people
vaccinated by the spring that we can now see our route out of
this pandemic".
(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Paul Sandle in London,
additional reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru, Kate
Kelland in London, John Miller in Zurich, Emilio Parodi in
Milan; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Kevin Liffey)
