Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine gives hope as Tier 3 and 4 measures extend to wider areas The Health and Social Care Secretary spoke to the House of Commons about the approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and the current surge in COVID-19 numbers. From: 30 December 2020 Mr Speaker, today marks a great stride forward in our plan to get us out of this pandemic and return to normal life. Our strategy throughout has been to supress the virus until a vaccine can make us safe. Supressing the virus has got a whole lot harder because of the new variant – and we must take more action today.