United Kingdom health regulators have authorized the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for emergency use for people 18 and older.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has given the single-dose shot the green light as a contagious coronavirus variant first identified in India is beginning to spread rapidly.
The J&J vaccine is the fourth vaccine to receive approval in the U.K., which has demonstrated one of the world's best vaccine rollouts, with 58 percent of people receiving at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 36 percent fully vaccinated.
J&J's shot was authorized for use in the U.S. in February and in the EU in March. The drugmaker delayed the planned rollout of its vaccine across the EU after the FDA put a brief pause on the vaccine after six women developed rare blood clots.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which decides how vaccines are rolled out across the U.K., will submit updated advice before the shots become available.