Invitations will start going out to over 65s from Monday as the programme moves down another step on the priority list.
The Government has also confirmed it will unveil a roadmap to get the country out of lockdown on February 22.
It has pledged to offer all over 50s a jab by May, and all adults by September.
The weekend vaccine drive comes after a batch of positive developments yesterday in Britain’s efforts to tame the pandemic. The R reproduction virus value, has now fallen below 1 for the first time since July and is now estimated to be between 0.7 and 0.9 across UK.
Hunt for the 2million unvaccinated Britons as Boris Johnson urges vulnerable people who are yet to receive jab to step up for the shot – amid warnings lockdown will stay in place even longer if large numbers remain unprotected
Government has made it its mission to inoculate 15million Brits most at risk of dying from the virus by Monday
Still a group numbering roughly twice the population of Birmingham who had yet to receive their first vaccine
Sir Patrick Vallance warned lockdown easing will go even slower if large numbers remained unvaccinated
Despite its small population on the global standings, the UK has administered a whopping 13.2million out of 146million doses given out internationally.
However, Ireland is lagging the UK on vaccine rollout.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Mr Brophy said: “And Ireland’s rollout of Covid-19 vaccines is currently the fastest in Europe, notwithstanding supply issues. Ireland & Denmark have administered doses to 4.1pc of their populations, the highest uptake of the 25 countries tracked by the European Centre for Disease Control.”
When challenged on the social media platform, Mr Brophy said he was referring the European Union and not the continent of Europe.
“Europe connoting the EU,” he clarified in a subsequent tweet.
Investors in Europe and around the world are monitoring the progress of countries in administering vaccines. Countries that succeed in getting their vaccine programme right are expected to bounce back faster economically than those who do not.
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