The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was the first to announce its success in trials – offering “hope on the horizon” in the fight against the virus.

On Wednesday, the UK became the first country in the world to approve its use – with care home residents among the first to receive the vaccine.

Britain’s health regulator, the MHRA, has deemed it safe after studies suggested the jab is 95% effective and works for all age groups.

More than a million people globally have died with COVID-19 this year – so it is hoped the rollout of vaccines in the weeks and months ahead will mark the beginning of the end of the pandemic.

On this edition of the Sky News Daily podcast with Dermot Murnaghan, we are joined by our correspondents Rowland Manthorpe and Kate McCann as we discuss the milestone and the challenge ahead.

Plus, Annelies Wilder-Smith - professor of emerging infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine – talks to us about the importance of vaccine take-up globally to help bring to an end the pandemic.

Daily podcast team:
Podcast producer - Annie Joyce
Podcast producer - Nicola Eyers
Podcast producer – Emma Rae Woodhouse
Interviews producer - Oli Foster
Interviews producer – Tatiana Alderson
Archive - Simon Windsor
Music - Steven Wheeler