Single dose vaccines could be just weeks away for Britain as the regulation process is set to begin this week. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which has now been approved for use in the US, could start the UK's formal regulatory approval process in the coming days.
The UK has ordered 30 million doses of the jab while the US has ordered 100 million and Canada 38 million. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which must carry out the checks for the UK, did not respond to a request for a comment.
Health sources said that the jab was not yet being considered by the MHRA for formal approval, a process which normally takes two weeks based on the timelines for the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines.