The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has become the second coronavirus jab to be approved for use in the UK.
The vaccine has received the green light from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The vaccine was developed at Oxford University with support from British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant, AstraZeneca.
During clinical trials, the jab was found to be up to 90% effective, which is almost as effective as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine which was approved for use in the UK at the start of December.
The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford jab which is enough to vaccinate 50 million people.
Speaking to Sky News, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Oxford vaccine will start to be rolled out from January 4.
He said: “It’s very good news for accelerating the vaccine rollout. It brings forward the day we can get our lives back to normal.
“I am now, with this approval this morning, highly confident that we can get enough vulnerable people vaccinated by the spring that we can now see the route out of this pandemic.
“The vaccine is our way out of the pandemic.”
Approval for use of the Oxford vaccine comes as the number of coronavirus patients in the UK is at its highest ever level during the pandemic, putting a strain on hospitals up and down the country.