The vaccines minister declined to give a date for when the first nine groups in the priority list will have received their vaccine, but said people could “do the maths”.
A SAGE expert says lockdown can be 'significantly eased' once all in the top nine groups are immune.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Nadhim Zahawi said: “We will set out our target (for vaccinating groups 5-9) after we have hit our February 15 target.
“But you can do the maths. We did 600,000 in a single day – the deployment infrastructure that we’ve built can do as much vaccines as we get supply, so the limiting factor will be vaccine supply.
“You can see that in the next 10 or so days, we’ve got to do another almost touching five million and so if we keep that rate up we will very quickly go down the list of the top nine.”
The BBC's Naga Munchetty then 'did the maths' on air - finding March 22 as the date when the Government could have vaccinated everyone in the top nine groups.
Everyone in those groups would then have 'significant immunity' three weeks later - by April 12.
Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) member Professor Andrew Hayward told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: “Once the most vulnerable people, particularly those over 50 and those with chronic illnesses, are vaccinated then yes I think we can see a significant return to normality.
“That in addition to the fact coronavirus is a seasonal disease, I think will make a big difference and allow us to open up.
“I think what we’ll see is a phased opening up as the vaccination levels increase, and then we will be more or less back to normal for the summer, I would imagine.”
Pressed on whether that meant it would take another 35 days from February 15 to have jabbed all 31 million people in the first nine cohorts, Mr Zahawi replied: “That assumes the supply, so I don’t want to commit to a date without going through it with a very fine toothcomb with the whole team, because our limiting factor is the supply of vaccines ultimately.
“With any manufacturing process, especially one that is new, there are challenges around that, as we’ve seen in Europe and as we saw in the early days in the UK as well.”
Once all in the JCVI list have been vaccinated the Government can look to prioritise others for the jab - such as teachers, police and other key workers.
It will also need to ensure everyone gets their second dose wuthi 12 weeks.
