THE approval of a coronavirus vaccine designed by scientists at the University of Oxford will pave the way for a huge expansion in the UK’s immunisation campaign.

The rollout of the AstraZeneca jab will begin on Monday (January 4) after approval by the medicines regulator was granted.

The vaccine is the second to be approved in the UK after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was passed in December. More than 600,000 people have been given this vaccine since then.

But crucially, unlike the Pfizer vaccine, the AstraZeneca vaccine coming on-stream next week can be stored in a normal fridge, meaning that it will be much easier to transport and be kept at GP’s surgeries, health centres and care homes.

The UK has ordered 100 million doses, enough to vaccinate 50 million people.Meanwhile The British Medical Association (BMA) has stressed how important it is that frontline medical staff are given the vaccine "as soon as possible".The BMA has written to the chief executive of NHS England, amid concerns from doctors that they are not being given the opportunity to get protected because of a lack of clear prioritisation or organisation of vaccinations amongst healthcare workers.In the letter to Sir Simon Stevens, BMA council chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul highlights increasing reports from doctors from across the country who say that they either have not had any notification of access to vaccinations, or that this is being done on a sporadic and ad hoc basis.He writes: “With cases of Covid-19 rocketing and hospitalisation levels higher than in the first peak, healthcare workers are now, as you recognise in your new year message, 'in the eye of the storm'. It is therefore imperative that frontline staff are protected from the virus so that they can be available to treat patients. “If healthcare workers fall ill from being infected and are unable to work it will be devastating for the health service at this time of critical pressures and will compound the problems hospitals and GP practices are already struggling with regarding staff shortages. There is also a very real risk of this impeding the roll-out of the vaccine itself which is reliant on delivery by health care staff.He adds: “We understand that current stocks of vaccines are limited, but with the realistic hope of further supplies and new vaccines which may be soon approved for use in the NHS, now is the time that we need assurance that frontline staff will be vaccinated in a clearly defined systematic and prioritised way."