Boris Johnson announces ‘most vulnerable’ to be prioritised for coronavirus vaccine rollout

Downing Street said there was an “enormous amount of planning and preparation in place” for the distribution of a vaccine.

“The priority will be the most vulnerable groups and we take advice from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on which groups should get the vaccine, based on these factors and we keep it under review,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.

The spokesman added: “We have secured early access to over 360 million vaccine doses through the agreements that we have with several separate vaccine developers at various stages of the trials.

“We have invested over £140 million into manufacturing any successful vaccine, so there is an enormous amount of planning and preparation in place across Government to be able to quickly roll out the vaccine.” Downing Street said that it would be taking advice from JCVI on who receives the vaccine.

“At the moment the priority list they have set out is based on preliminary information about the vaccines in development and we keep it under review,” the spokesman confirmed.

In September, the JCVI published a draft list showing who is likely to be at the front of the queue for a jab when a coronavirus vaccine is approved in the UK.

The draft list named older adults in care homes and care home workers as the first group, followed by those aged over 80, over 75, over 70 and over 65.