HEXHAM’S MP has said “there is light at the end of the tunnel” after news of the UK becoming the first country in the world to have a clinically authorised coronavirus vaccine for supply.

Conservative MP Guy Opperman hailed the Covid-19 vaccine ‘an incredible feat of medical and scientific ingenuity’.

It comes after British regulator the MHRA approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for rollout saying the jab, which has shown 95 per cent effectiveness, could be available from next week.

The UK has ordered 40 million doses - enough to vaccinate 20 million people - and immunisations could start within days for those who need it most.

Interim guidance released by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has so far given priority to older adults in care homes and their carers, those 80 years of age and above, as well as other health and social care workers.

People aged 65 or over will be next in line, as well as anyone aged between 16 to 64 with underlying health conditions which put them at a “higher risk of serious disease and mortality”.

The vaccine has taken just 10 months to create, becoming the fastest ever to go from concept to reality – a process that would usually take the best part of a decade.

It is understood that people will need two jabs 21 days apart, and will be vaccinated whether or not they’ve already had the virus.

On Twitter, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “It’s the protection of vaccines that will ultimately allow us to reclaim our lives and get the economy moving again.”

The news comes as Northumberland has been placed in Tier 3 of the Government’s coronavirus restrictions after the national lockdown was lifted on Wednesday.

According to the latest data from Public Health England, 615 Covid-19 cases have been recorded in the county in the last seven days, taking the total to 8,520.

Meanwhile, 366 people have died at Northumbria Healthcare hospitals after testing positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic.

Mr Opperman said: “I want us to return to Tier 2, but, put simply, that cannot happen unless our numbers fall. So, we all need to play our part and follow the rules.”

At the Northumberland County Council public question time event, the county’s director of public health Liz Morgan warned of Covid-19 ‘pandemic fatigue.’