What could coronavirus vaccinations from next week mean for the UK economy?

After the worst hit to the UK economy in 300 years, just how much of a shot in the arm will the rollout of a coronavirus vaccine be? Ben Chu explains

How soon can normal economic life now return to the UK? (AFP/Getty)

The news that the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine has been approved by the UK’s independent medicines regulator and that the first doses will be administered from next week has profound implications for the battle against the epidemic.  

Yet could the economic implications be just as significant?  

It’s the pandemic that has driven the UK economy into its biggest slump in some 300 years, so this news also arguably represents some of the best economic news since the crisis began.