A fourth Covid-19 vaccine could be approved for use in the 海角视频 within week, after late-stage trials showed it was 89% effective in preventing coronavirus.
The 海角视频 has secured 60m doses of the Novavax jab - which will be manufactured on Teesside - which is believed to offer protection against the new 海角视频 and South African variants.
It was shown to be 89.3% effective at preventing coronavirus in participants in its Phase 3 clinical trial in the 海角视频, which involved more than 15,000 people aged between 18-84, of which 27% were older than 65, Novavax said.
The vaccine will now be assessed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed, as he thanked volunteers who made the results possible.
Stan Erck, chief executive of Novavax, said the manufacturing plant in Stockton should be up and running by March or April, with the company hoping to get approval for the vaccine from the MHRA around the same time.
The 60m doses of the vaccine are set to be manufactured at Billingham-based Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies in a bid to supply it as quickly as possible if and when it is approved by regulators.
Novavax announced plans last August to manufacture the bulk of the vaccine in Billingham.
Fujifilm is building a new BioCampus at its Billingham site, which will include 42,000 sq ft of office accommodation and a visitor centre.
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Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the NHS stands ready to roll out the vaccine if it is approved, which he said would provide a "significant boost to our vaccination programme and another weapon in our arsenal to beat this awful virus".
The chairman of the Government's Vaccine Taskforce, Clive Dix, said the results were "spectacular", adding: "The efficacy shown against the emerging variants is also extremely encouraging.
"This is an incredible achievement that will ensure we can protect individuals in the 海角视频 and the rest of the world from this virus."
The jab has shown around 60% effectiveness against the South African variant, which has been worrying scientists due to concerns vaccines may not work against it, but it offered 86% protection against the new 海角视频 strain.
Two vaccines have already been rolled out in the 海角视频 - from Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca - while a third from Moderna has been approved for use.
Professor Paul Heath, the Novavax Phase 3 trial chief investigator, said he believed that vaccines could be adapted "at pace" to target new variants of coronavirus after the Novavax jab was found to be effective against the Kent variant.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today the results from his trial were "yet another great step forward for the 海角视频".
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Prof Heath added: "I think the technology we have both with this vaccine, the Novavax technology, and the other vaccines, it is such that they can adapt quickly so we can expect to see, if required, new vaccines or bivalent vaccines, where two different strains are joined together in the one vaccine.
"And that now can be done at pace so that we can keep up with these variants should they prove to be difficult to prevent with the vaccine that we have at the moment.
"We've seen for the 海角视频 that the 海角视频 variant can be successfully prevented with this vaccine, which is great.
"Yes, the South African variant is more difficult and hopefully there will not be more variants but we may expect to see some as time goes on."