Britain on Wednesday became the first western country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine for general use, announcing a rollout of Pfizer-BioNTech's jab from next week in a major advance for humanity's fightback against the coronavirus.

The green light for the vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech comes as the virus surges again in the United States and Europe, putting pressure on hospitals and morgues in some places and forcing new rounds of restrictions that have devastated economies.

Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) granted emergency use approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which they say is 95 percent effective in preventing illness, in record time – just 23 days since Pfizer published the first data from its final-stage clinical trial.

"Everybody can be confident that no corners whatsoever have been cut," Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) chief executive June Raine told a news conference.

"The public deserves nothing less," she said, stressing her agency's certification process was no different to counterparts in the United States and the European Union.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the medicine authority's approval as a global win and a ray of hope amid the gloom of the novel coronavirus which has killed nearly 1.5 million people globally, hammered the world economy and upended normal life.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Britain expects to begin receiving the first shipment of 800,000 doses "within days" and people will begin receiving shots as soon as the National Health Service gets the vaccine.

"Help is on its way," he told the BBC, adding that the situation would start to improve in the spring.

The breakthrough will encourage hopes the world can finally get back on course in 2021 after a year of traumatic losses, both human and economic.

(With input from agencies)