The UK approved the use of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University on Wednesday, paving the way for a serious ramping up of the country's immunisation programme.

Britain has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine, which is easier to store and distribute than several of its rivals.

For many the news couldn't come soon enough, as Britain battles a major winter surge of coronavirus infections driven in part by a new, more infectious variant of the virus.