Today, the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency formally authorised the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for Covid-19 - allowing vaccinations to start taking place from next week. This follows months of rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA who have concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.

The protection vaccines could offer our nation, has the potential to allow us to reclaim our lives and get our economies moving again.

The UK is the first country in the world to have a clinically approved vaccine for supply, with the NHS standing ready to start vaccinating early next week. We have secured 40 million initial doses of this vaccine, with several million expected before the New Year.

Alongside mass testing, the vaccine can be rolled out through winter and into the spring, offering hope that need for localised restrictions will start to gradually reduce – and life can once again return closer to normality.

The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) will shortly publish its final advice for the priority groups to receive the vaccine, including care home residents, health and care staff, the elderly and the clinically extremely vulnerable.