On Dec. 2, the U.K. government greenlighted the American-owned Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. This has been described as “an unprecedented piece of science” given that the drug was released  less than a year after the virus was discovered.

While this does mean that doctors have the rights to use the drug in particular cases, including those who are most at risk from dying and those who are most likely to catch it at work, it also means the drug will remain categorized as “experimental” until final testing is complete. The U.K. expects the shipment any day that will contain 800,000 doses of the vaccine given twice to people three weeks apart.