AstraZeneca and Oxford University jointly developed COVID-19 vaccine may be rolled out in six months’ time, a report in British media said on Saturday.

The report said the vaccine, now under the last phase of trial, may be given a clearance by health regulators in December.

It is the furthest in the process of trials.

The Times quoted UK government sources involved in the making and distribution of vaccines as saying that a full vaccine roll-out programme for adults could take six months or less after approval.

“We are looking at closer to six months and it is likely to be far shorter than that,” a government source said.

Under a protocol developed by the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, any approved vaccine will then be given to all over 65s.

This will be followed by younger adults at higher risk, which could include those from ethnic minorities as well as those with serious health issues based on their higher risk from the deadly virus.

People over 50 will be next in line, with younger adults at the back of the queue.

The UK government has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine once it is ready for roll-out and the doses are being manufactured before it has been shown to be successful in order to save time once it clears all the regulatory requirements.