The Covid-19 vaccine developed by the British drugs group AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford has achieved a "winning formula" for efficacy, the company's chief executive said on Sunday.

The vaccine, which is currently being evaluated by Britain's independent medicines regulator, provides "100% protection" against severe Covid disease requiring hospitalization, Pascal Soriot said in an interview. The UK government announced on December 23 that the developers of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine had submitted their data to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for approval for a mass rollout.

The approval is expected to be granted on Monday, The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first coronavirus shot to be authorised for use by the UK's independent medicines regulator and has been given to hundreds of thousands of the country's most vulnerable people since its rollout last month. The bulk of Britain's vaccine requirements are expected to be met by the jab developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, as the government has ordered 100 million doses. Earlier trials had shown varying outcomes in the AstraZeneca shot's efficacy.

Big news: Oxford corona vaccine can get first approval of emergency use in India

21000 trained to inoculate, 46k centres ready to roll out vaccine, Tamil Nadu

Spain, Bulgaria receive 1st batch of coronavirus vaccine