Matt Hancock has insisted the UK remains on track to offer a Covid-19 vaccine to all adults by the end of July.
The Health Secretary said more than 40 million doses of vaccines have been delivered across the country, of which more than 32 million are first doses.
He also confirmed the UK has met its target to offer a Covid-19 vaccine to everyone in the top nine priority groups ahead of the April 15 deadline.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Hancock did not appear concerned over supplies of vaccines.
I’m delighted to confirm we have met the target to offer a first vaccination to the 9 highest risk groups ahead of the 15 April deadline.
Vaccines are safe, effective & have already saved over 10,000 lives – when it’s your turn, come forward & get the jab. pic.twitter.com/Puqq65oJ1O
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) April 13, 2021
He said: “We’ve now delivered a first dose to over 32 million people and are on track to offer a vaccine to all adults by the end of July.
“This weekend we also saw a record number of second doses, so overall – as of midnight last night – we have now delivered more than 40 million doses of vaccines right across the UK. It’s a remarkable achievement.”
Mr Hancock went on to confirm the age-based prioritisation for the rest of the vaccine rollout, with all people aged 45-49 receiving an invitation to secure a jab – with moves then taking place for everyone aged over 40 in line with supplies.
He added: “Following a successful start last week in Wales, the Moderna vaccine will be rolled out in England from today.”
Mr Hancock also claimed the vaccination programme has “already saved over 10,000 lives, with more to come”.
He said: “We are working closely with faith and community leaders to help spread information about vaccines through trusted, familiar voices and in a range of different languages and settings.
“This also means leveraging the influence of celebrity figures such as Sir Lenny Henry, (with his) very powerful and incredibly moving call to action letter and video to black and Afro-Caribbean communities, really important.
“We’re also working to support the vaccine programme over important religious observances for example Ramadan which begins today.
Mr Hancock also recognised there is a “very significant” treatment backlog in the NHS caused by the pandemic.
Shadow health minister Justin Madders said: “We’ve seen a 23% increase in treatments being delayed or cancelled in the last year because of infrastructure failure, and the maintenance backlog went up by another 50% last year as well.
“We’re not going to see those record waiting lists drop if operations are cancelled because basic repairs are not done, so can (Mr Hancock) tell us by what date will we see no more delays to treatment because of crumbling buildings?”
Mr Hancock, in his reply, said: “We have got a very significant backlog because of the pandemic and we’re working incredibly hard to tackle it.”
