The heath secretary is set to lead a press conference this afternoon amid claims the pandemic is ‘stabilising’.
Matt Hancock is expected to appear at 5pm and announce the Government has hit its target of offering a coronavirus vaccine to every care home in England.
It comes as it was revealed the number of daily vaccinations carried out exceeded 500,000 for the first time on Saturday.
NHS England said more than 10,000 care homes with older residents had been offered vaccines now – meeting the deadline set by the Government.
A small number had to delay their visits due to local outbreaks but NHS staff will reportedly return as soon as it is safe to do so.
Prime minister Boris Johnson said: ‘Today marks a crucial milestone in our ongoing race to vaccinate the most vulnerable against this deadly disease.
‘We said we would prioritise and protect care home residents, and that is exactly what we have done.’
But he added there will be ‘difficult moments to come’, with the number of infections and individuals in hospital still ‘dangerously high’.
The Government is growing increasingly confident of hitting the target of vaccinating the 15 million most vulnerable people by mid-February.
It comes as Politico reported ministers have been briefed hospital admissions due to Covid-19 are dropping – but deaths are thought to remain high for several more weeks.
The pandemic is said to be ‘stabilising’ as it emerged early data is showing vaccinations are already starting to have an effect.
Anthony Harden, deputy chairperson of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said there is evidence the public is being protected by the injections.
The health secretary also predicted a ‘Great British summer’ ahead for the UK after the rollout of the mass vaccination programme.
Mr Hancock told BBC Politics East yesterday there would be ‘a few tough few months between now and [summer]’, with many restrictions likely to be in place until the late spring.
But he added: ‘In six months we’ll be in the middle, I hope, of a happy and free Great British summer.
‘I have a high degree of confidence that by then the vast majority of adults will have been vaccinated – and that’s not just the clinically vulnerable groups, but all groups.’
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