Those over the age of 25 in England will be invited to get their coronavirus vaccination from Tuesday, the Health Secretary has confirmed.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, Matt Hancock said that people aged 25 to 29 will be invited to book their jab as he signalled the start of the final stage of the vaccination programme.
That means from Tuesday, around three million more people will become eligible to book their first dose with under-30s the final cohort on the vaccine priority list.
Mr Hancock told MPs: "From this week we will start offering vaccinations to people under-30, bringing us ever closer to the goal of offering a vaccine to all adults in the UK by the end of next month.
"From tomorrow morning we will open up vaccination to people aged 25-29. Over the remainder of this week the NHS will send texts to people in these age groups and of course GPs will be inviting people on their lists to come forward."
NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said: "Today is a watershed moment as the world-beating NHS vaccination programme enters the home straight of our race to offer everyone their first dose.
"The NHS vaccination programme is a real team effort and it is a testament to NHS teams across the country that we are able to open up to people in their 20s just six months on from delivering that world-first jab to Maggie Keenan.
"The tireless efforts of NHS staff to protect the people they care for and their communities has quite simply saved lives, and when you get the text, you’re next.
"Getting the lifesaving Covid-19 jab is the most important thing you can do, with NHS staff vaccinating at over 1,600 sites, including vaccine buses, places of worship, sport stadiums and other convenient locations. So when you get that text, book your appointment and join the millions who are already protected."
The NHS has spearheaded the successful campaign, which has seen more than half of all adults fully jabbed and more than three quarters given their first dose.
Alongside opening up appointments to younger age groups, the health service is pressing ahead with offering second doses to people at pace.
The so-called race between variants and vaccines has led to a sped-up timetable for offering second jabs.
Instead of waiting 12 weeks for their second dose, people are now being invited back for their second dose after eight weeks.
It comes amid concerns over the spread of the variant first identified in India, also known as the Delta variant.
As of June 3, from 12,383 cases of the Delta variant 464 went on to present at emergency care and 126 people were admitted to hospital.
Of those admitted, 83 were unvaccinated, 28 had received one dose and three had received both doses of the vaccine, Mr Hancock said.
Only a handful of people have been admitted to hospital after having both doses of the vaccine, NHS leaders have said previously.
Meanwhile, Mr Hancock said it was "too early" to say whether England’s remaining coronavirus restrictions will be lifted on June 21, as case rates rose in more areas of the UK than at any point since early January.
He said a decision on moving to Step 4 of the road map would be delayed as long as possible, with a final announcement to be made next Monday– a week before any changes could come into effect.
