The rollout will start next week with the over eighties NHS workers and staff in care homes at the front of the queue.

After that, it will be allocated according to age on assessment.

Off vulnerability.

Prime minister warned that the three tier system in England on the separate regimes in Scotland, Wales on Northern Ireland remained crucial on that people needed to continue to follow the rules.

The HR A that's the regulator which approved the vaccine in record time, insisted that no corners have been cut in the process of approval.

Our medical editor Fergus Walsh has the latest.

This is an historic moment.

At last there is a clear path out of this pandemic.

Thanks to vaccination.

The UK is the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer by on tech vaccine seen here on the production line in Belgium.

The prime minister made clear the vaccine won't change life for now, but hope is on the horizon.

Prime Minister, Now we have a vaccine.

How important is this moment when you consider the damage that, as I was saying earlier, the damage that this virus has done to human life across the planet.

The economic damage, the social damage, to say nothing of the cost in life and and suffering it is a fantastic moment.

More than 20,000 volunteers got two doses of the vaccine as part of the trials.

It proved 95% effective at preventing Cove it.

Even among those in their seventies and eighties, Side effects were mostly mild.

A small minority suffered headaches and fatigue.

The independent medicines regulator, the Ciara began work on co vid vaccines in June.

On for the past two months has been reviewing more than 1000 pages of data on Pfizer's trials.

No corners have been cut.

Our experts, scientists and clinicians have worked round the clock carefully, methodically poring over tables and analyses on graphs on every single piece of data.

Creating a completely new vaccine usually takes a least 10 years from design and development through trials to regulatory review and production.

This is being compressed to less than a year.

Many stages were done in parallel on Pfizer began vaccine production at their own risk even before they knew it worked.

800,000 doses of the vaccine should arrive in the UK within days, 40 million have been ordered in total, enough to immunize 20 million adults, But the vials have to be transported from Belgium in special containers at an ultra low temperature.

It's like a pizza box.

They then get put into a thermal shipper packed with dry eyes that then maintains the temperature at minus 70 if unopened for 10 days.

The committee, which advises the government on immunization, says the elderly and frontline health and care workers should be first in line.

We are suggesting that vaccines are offered in order to protect people who are most at risk off dying from covert 19, as well as to protect health and social care services.

Because by doing so, we also protect lives.

Age is by far the single most important factor in terms of risk.

From Corbett 19.

Getting rid of social distancing and other restrictions next year will depend on tens of millions of us being vaccinated.

We need people to take it.

This vaccine isn't going to help you if you don't take it and you will need two doses of this vaccine and most of the others to have full protection.

Mawr Co vid vaccines could be approved within weeks.

The goal then to immunize not just the UK but the world.

Fergus Walsh, B B C News, both Downing Street and the UK medicines regulator appeared to contradict a claim by Matt Hancock, the health secretary, that swift approval of the vaccine had Bean possible because of Brexit.

The HR said that the supply had Bean authorized using provisions under existing European law, which are still in place until New Year's Day.

Rolling out the vaccine will be a huge logistical exercises.

Focus was saying there, which could also be affected by a post Brexit deal is the supplies will come.

As we know from Belgium.

Our health editor, Hugh Pym, has more details.

The NHS is ready, though it's a huge task, starting next week, vaccinating first, its staff and other priority groups on those likely to receive the jobs, including nurses who went through the first wave, know how important that is as working as an I See you know, especially in the first search.

Ah, lot of the nurses were living away from home, and they're concerned about bringing it home to their families.

If we do have the vaccine, it means we can get back to living a more normal life.

Life has not bean normal for the past several months.

The official first phase priority list is headed by CARE, home residents and carers, followed by the over eighties and frontline health workers, then lower age groups and younger adults with health conditions.

But it will be NHS and care staff on the over eighties who actually get it first.

Health leaders say hospitals will be the focal point next week.

The idea for the first phase is that we concentrate on NHS hospitals delivering this vaccine because of the particular requirements of the fires of vaccine but care homes and are wondering what all this means for their residents and why they don't now appear to be top of the list.

It's really disappointing on.

Obviously, there's potential implications for our residents as well.

Should we get another outbreak of co vid than they're more likely to suffer some serious consequences of that?

One reason is the way the doses a packed it's emerged that approval by regulators is still required to allow them to be broken down into smaller consignments to be taken into care homes.

As soon as we have the regulatory sign off that we can do that, we can get the jabs to the care homes so that the GPS and the nurses can then arrive and give those care home residents that took over vaccination.

We will do that.

In Northern Ireland, officials have set aside a new hospital emergency department as one of seven designated vaccination sites.

The Scottish government also plans to prioritize health and care staff.

The front vaccines against covered will be administered in Scotland on Tuesday, the Eat Off December so you can perhaps understand why I've probably smiled more in the last few minutes than you've seen me do in several months.

There is now an accelerating drive to set up vaccination hubs for the wider population, including one at Epsom Racecourse.

Even a village hall in Sorry is being prepared as a site for vaccinations in the local community.

The new vaccine is on the way from fighters Belgian plant.

It's a shot in the arm for ministers.

They'll hope that Brexit doesn't affect the continued smooth running of this vital supply chain in the new year.

Hugh Pym, BBC News With me is our medical editor, Fergus Walsh has been lots of talk today.

Focus about a major milestone.

How would you describe what happened?

Well, you today for the first time, we can say with certainty that we have a safe and effective covert vaccine, and that's an extraordinary achievement to manage that in less than a year now.

Yes, the UK was the first country to approve it, but it's gone through the hands of a very well respected independent regulator so the public can have confidence in this vaccine.

All medicines have side effects, but there were no serious adverse events on the trial on the volunteers will be monitored for the next two years, and you have to set aside any side effects against the rial known profound dangers of Kobe, especially to the elderly, but also the lingering health problems you get with Long Cove.

It now we don't know whether the vaccine stops people from passing on the virus.

We should find that out in the next six months on.

We don't know how long any protection will last.

We may need booster doses in years to come.

So the sooner we can start the mammoth task of immunization, the better Fergus once again.

Many thanks.

Fergus Walsh.

There are medical editor.