TEACHERS, police officers and other key workers will be prioritised for the Covid vaccine once it has been offered to over-50s, according to the Telegraph.

Key worker groups will start being offered the vaccine after the first nine priority groups, in a bid to reduce transmission of the virus and allow society to start opening up again.

What happens once all over-50s are vaccinated?

The body in charge of prioritising the vaccine rollout, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), will publish guidance later this month on who the next groups to receive the vaccine will be.

The JCVI’s announcement is expected in the week commencing 22 February, and Whitehall sources expect that key workers will be among the top priority groups, including teachers and police officers.

Speaking to the Telegraph, an unnamed government source said: "The JCVI will need to see the latest data on transmission before they make their recommendations, but we have been clear that there are two things – firstly protecting those most at risk of hospitalisation overall, largely as a result of age, which is what the first cohorts cover, and then looking at those whose roles increase their risk.

"The transmission data will inform the exact recommendations, but it is clear that teachers and police will be given early priority."

Is the vaccination programme on track?

The UK is on course to meet its first target of vaccinating the four most vulnerable groups by mid-February, with current figures showing that all over 70s will have been offered a first dose of vaccine by Monday (15 February).

Once these groups have been offered the vaccine, people between the ages of 50 and 69 will be next, working from the oldest to the youngest.

If the vaccination programme continues at its current pace, it is expected that everyone over 50 will have been offered a first dose of the vaccine by the end of April.