Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has said he would be "at the very front of the queue" for a coronavirus vaccine if he was able to do so.
The deputy chief medical officer for England was asked whether high-profile Government figures such as himself or the Prime Minister should be first in line to prove to the public that it was safe.
But the professor, who is 56-years-old with what he says is a medium-to-high risk condition, insisted there were people of greater priority to get the vaccine.
He said he has already encouraged his 78-year-old mother to be ready to take a coronavirus vaccine as soon as possible, calling it 'the mum test'.
Professor Van-Tam told the Wednesday morning Downing Street briefing: “If I could, rightly and morally, be at the very front of the queue, then I would do so, because I absolutely trust the judgment of the MHRA on safety and efficacy.
“But that clearly isn’t right, we have to target the most highest risk individuals in society and that is how it should be in terms of our system.
“If I could be at the front of the queue, then I would be.
“I think 'the mum test’ is very important here. My mum is 78, she will be 79 shortly, and I have already said to her, ‘mum, make sure when you are called you are ready, be ready to take this up, this is really important for you because of your age’.”
His comments come after the successful news that the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine interim results show that it's 90 per cent effective.
The UK has secured 30 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine – the first agreement the firms signed with any government - therefore many questions have been raised about the likely roll out.
Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, who joined Prof Van-Tam at the briefing, said there will be a priority list for those most at risk of dying from the diesease.
Prof Lim said priority groups “may change” but current thinking is they would start with care home residents and workers, then older individuals, going down age groups to the over-60s.
He said adults with underlying health condition would then be prioritised before the over-50s during phase one of the programme.
“If phase one is completed then we will have protected hopefully over 99% of those individuals who are at risk of dying from Covid-19,” he added.
Officials have not decided who should be vaccinated after phase one, but he said it could be those who suffer lasting effects of coronavirus - Long Covid - or those who transmit the disease.
