People aged 45 or over in England can now book a Covid vaccine, as the programme enters a new phase.
It comes after all over-50s and those in high-risk groups in the UK were offered a first dose of the vaccine.
People can book their appointments on the NHS website, which initially crashed on Tuesday morning when it opened up to the new age group.
The government has said it is on track to offer a first dose to all adults by the end of July.
Ministers have met their target of offering a first dose to the top nine priority groups by 15 April.
Its has now moved onto “phase 2” of the vaccination programme – which involves offering vaccines to healthy adults under the age of 50.
More than 32 million people in the UK have had their first vaccine dose.
On Saturday a record 475,230 second doses were given out, with more than 7.6 million people now fully vaccinated.
Under-50s in Northern Ireland have already been asked to book appointments, and more people in the age group in other parts of the UK are now set to get their invitations.
‘Supply is a key variable for what happens next’
Given how quickly the vaccination programme has been rolled out in the UK, hitting the target of all priority groups by mid-April is not unexpected.
And remember, there is no published data on the number of people offered jabs, as opposed to those who have actually been vaccinated. However, NHS England has made clear that across the nine groups, 95% have actually had their first doses – that is an average, with take-up rates varying in different groups.
Online bookings for the next age group, those aged 45 and over, have opened in England. Text messages to 48 and 49-year-olds from local vaccination centres are set to go out soon.
But what’s not known is to what extent supplies of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will fill the gap caused this month by supply problems with the AstraZeneca doses.
The government is sticking to the line that the programme is on track to offer every adult a first dose by late July.
But officials qualify it by saying this is “subject to supply” – and that is a key variable.