All adults in Britain will be offered a first shot of a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of July, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday.

An announcement of a gradual reopening of the economy from lockdown is expected this week.

Johnson will set out a plan to ease Englan’ds third national lockdown on Monday having met a target to vaccinate 15 million people in higher-risk categories in Britain by mid-February.

The UK government said that it aims to give a first dose to all over-50s by April 15. It previously indicated it wished them to receive the shot by May.

If all adults receive a dose by the end of July, it will be well ahead of a previous target of autumn.

Two vaccines, one made by Pfizer and BioNTech, and another developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca  are being distributed and UK officials recommended a 12-week gap between doses.

This extended gap has been a bone of contention.