PEOPLE in Oxford are set to get their first shots of the newly-approved Oxford vaccine today.

The city’s Churchill Hospital, in Headington, is among the first locations to provide the jab as part of the biggest mass vaccination campaign in the history of the NHS.

Batches of the newly approved vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca began arriving yesterday at hospitals across England ahead of the longawaited rollout.

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The jab, which has been described as a ‘game changer’, was developed by a team based at the Churchill Hospital site.

Hundreds of new vaccination sites are due to be up and running this week as the NHS ramps up its Covid-19 immunisation programme.

Some 530,000 doses will be available from today, with vulnerable groups being first in line.

A majority of care home residents are expected to be vaccinated by the end of the month.

NHS staff are also being prioritised now that more vaccines are coming on stream.

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The jab will be administered at a small number of hospitals for the first few days for surveillance purposes, before the bulk of supplies are sent to hundreds of GP-led services to be rolled out, according to NHS England.

It comes almost a month after rollout of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech began, with more than one million people having now received their first dose.

Second doses of either vaccine will now take place within 12 weeks rather than the 21 days that was initially planned with the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, following a change in guidance which aims to accelerate immunisation.

Dr Bruno Holthof, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are very proud that the Churchill Hospital in Oxford has been chosen to be among the first locations to provide the Oxford vaccine.

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“I would like to thank all our staff who have played their part in ensuring that we can deliver the vaccine for our patients and I would also like to pay tribute to the team who developed it in record time.

“We look forward to playing our part in this historic moment.”

The AstraZeneca jab is easier to transport and store than the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which needs cold storage of around minus 70C.

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, hailed the jab as a ‘a triumph of British science’.

In a statement yesterday he said: “The NHS will start using the Oxford vaccine to give protection against Covid-19.

“We know there are challenges still ahead of us over the coming weeks and months.

“However, I am confident this is the year we will defeat coronavirus and start building back better.”

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Regulators and the four UK chief medical officers announced last week that the gap between the first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine should be lengthened so that more people can be protected faster.

Delivery of the Pfizer jab, the first to be approved, is therefore also now able to be accelerated.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock commented: “The vaccine is our way out and this huge achievement brings us a step closer to the normality we’ve all been working hard to reclaim.

The British public will begin to receive a second highly effective vaccine, starting with the most vulnerable and frontline care home and NHS staff, another significant milestone in the expansion of the vaccination programme.

“This will be a historic day, and cause for celebration, but it’s vital everyone continues to follow the rules and remember hands, face, space, to keep ourselves and others safe.”

AstraZeneca is also being rolled out across India, after it was formally approved on Saturday alongside a vaccine developed by by local firm Bharat Biotech.

It has reported that India has already made 50 million doses of the vaccine – compared to just over half a million in the UK.