The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine could be approved by regulators 'within days' reports suggest as boss behind firm dubs it a 'winning formula'.
AstraZeneca chief Pascal Soriot told the Sunday Times he believes the coronavirus jab is more effective than first thought amid the rapid spread of the new virus strain across the globe.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine will also require two doses and Soriot promised to publish the results as reports suggest the UK regulator could approve the jab within days.
His comments come as Canada became the latest country to identify cases of the new highly infectious variant of coronavirus, which was first detected in the UK and has since spread to at least a dozen countries.
Last week a scientist claimed the new vaccine could be approved "shortly after" Christmas.
Professor Sir John Bell told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he expects the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to make the approval "pretty shortly".
The government has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, with around 40 million available by the end of March.
If approved it will be the second vaccine the UK has approved following the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which was the first to be approved and began its historic NHS rollout at the beginning of this month.
