PM Johnson says hopes vaccines will be approved before Christmas

bj1 FILE PHOTO: Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson wears a face mask as he visits the Public Health England site at the Porton Down science park, near Salisbury, Britain November 27, 2020. Adrian Dennis/Pool via REUTERS

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday he hoped the leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates would be approved by regulators before Christmas.

“No vaccine has yet got MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) approval, but we’re obviously hoping that both the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will get approved in the course of the next few days and weeks,” Johnson told reporters during a visit to a medical facility.

Asked if they could be approved before Christmas, he said: “That’s the hope.”