First COVID-19 vaccine approved in the U.K.

The United Kingdom has approved the use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.

The move marks the first public use of a vaccine for the virus and a major step toward ending the pandemic, The Associated Press reports.

Both the United States and the European Union are evaluating the Pfizer vaccine and another one manufactured by Moderna. A third vaccine from AstraZeneca is also in the pipeline in the U.K.

A total of 58 vaccines are in various stages of clinical trials on humans, and another 87 are pre-clinical, meaning they’re being tested on animals, according to The New York Times.

If approved in the U.S., the Pfizer vaccine is expected to be available to health-care workers and first responders by the third week in December, and to the general public in the spring of 2021.