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The United Kingdom on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve the coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and drugmaker AstraZeneca, Politico reported. 

The government said in its announcement that the green light "follows rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts" at the regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, "which has concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness."

U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC "hundreds of thousands" of doses of the new vaccine would be available “from Monday."

In trials, the vaccine was 90 percent effective in more than 2,700 people who received a half dose followed by a full dose. It was 62 percent effective in more than 8,800 people who received two full doses.

Some observers had criticized AstraZeneca for the different dosing schedules across the trials. The lower dose was the result of an unintended manufacturing dilution process.

The vaccine is based on the adenovirus viral vector technology, which is also used by Johnson & Johnson, Russia’s Sputnik vaccine and some Chinese coronavirus vaccines.