The NHS is "firmly on track" to offer everyone in the top four priority groups in England a Covid vaccine by Monday.

The UK government's aim is to reach 15 million of the most vulnerable by mid-February - and 14 million have been vaccinated so far.

Two vaccines - developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca - are being used to protect against serious illness and death from Covid-19. A third, from Moderna, has been approved.

Who is being vaccinated now?

Vaccines are given to the most vulnerable first. 

A list of high-priority groups - covering up to 99 per cent of those most at risk of dying - is being followed.

If you're 70 or over in England and haven't yet been vaccinated, you are now being asked to contact the NHS to book an appointment online or by calling 119 free of charge.

Most NHS frontline staff, care home residents and workers, and over 75s have been vaccinated.

Some areas are now inviting over 60s.

But who comes after that? 

The aim is to vaccinate over-50s by the start of May.

Police officers and teachers will be vaccinated after the most vulnerable groups - probably from late spring.

Any change to priorities will be decided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

How will I be invited to get the vaccine? 

The NHS will contact you when you are eligible for the vaccine and you will be invited to make an appointment.

If you are registered to a GP, you will be contacted by your surgery either over the phone, by text, email or post, in order to book in to receive a vaccine at your local vaccination centre.

You can still register at a GP surgery if you are not already registered to one, and it is advised that you make sure that your contact details are up to date to ensure that there are no delays. 

However, if you are over 70 and have not yet received the vaccine, the government urges you to contact your GP.

Where will I get a vaccine?

You'll be invited to book an appointment as soon as it's your turn, by phone or letter.

Thousands of vaccination sites are operating:

  • in hospital hubs for NHS staff and older patients
  • in thousands of GP surgeries
  • in care homes for workers and older residents
  • in some pharmacies
  • in vaccination centres
  • in sports stadiums and conference centres acting as major vaccination hubs

Do the vaccines work against new variants?

The Oxford vaccine offers a similar level of good protection against the 'Kent' variant now dominant in the UK as it does against the original virus.

Early research on other vaccines, including Pfizer's, suggest they also protect against this new form of coronavirus.

All have been shown to be effective at preventing people from becoming seriously ill and dying from Covid-19.

But there are concerns that Covid vaccines may not work as well against other variants with a mutation called E484K. This has been found in variants first spotted in South Africa and Brazil, and in some UK variants too.

Nonetheless, the World Health Organization has recommended that the Oxford vaccine, which is seen as suitable for rollout around the world, should still be used in countries where these variants are present - as well as in all adults over 18.