Israeli health authorities have approved a coronavirus vaccine for use – even though the vaccine has yet to be cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration, according to a report Tuesday.

Citing officials at Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Channel 13 has reported that Health Ministry director-general Hezy Levy has granted the hospital permission to use the newly developed coronavirus vaccine created by Pfizer and BioNTech.

The vaccine has yet to be approved by the FDA for use in the US, though Britain has begun using the vaccine as part of its mass immunization campaign, which launched Tuesday, a day after the first doses were administered.

According to the report, the Israeli Health Ministry has granted approval to use the vaccine, based on Britain’s decision to permit its use, despite the FDA not yet ruling on Pfizer’s request for emergency approval.

Israel has ordered eight million doses of the vaccine from Pfizer, enough to vaccinate four million people with the two-dose vaccine.

The first doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive on Thursday, with 100,000 doses to be flown in via Ben Gurion International Airport.

It is unknown when the doses will start to be administered.