The United States is not likely to begin administering doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine until May, roughly four full months after the European Union greenlit the shots.

More than 70 countries are now putting the two-dose AstraZeneca vaccine into arms after international health regulators concluded it is safe and highly effective. The European Medicines Agency first granted authorization for the shots on Jan. 29. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca has not yet submitted a petition for emergency use authorization to the Food and Drug Administration but is expected to do so “in the coming weeks.”

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