Every adult in the UK will be offered a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine by September, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has pledged.

The Foreign Secretary said the government was working to the early autumn target.

In an interview on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Mr Raab said: “Our target is by September to have offered all the adult population a first dose. If we can do it faster than that, great, but that’s the roadmap.”

He said that he hoped by the “early spring” some restrictions can be lifted “gradually” so the country can “get back to normal”.

Mr Raab warned, however, that it could be put “at risk” by the new variants and pressure on the NHS as he urged people to follow the rules.

More than 3.5 million people in the UK have now received their first dose of a vaccine and some 324,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines were administered in the space of 24 hours.

He said: “We’ve just got to stay at home as much as possible unless there are really strong, limited exceptional reasons for travelling domestically or internationally, and that’s the way we get through to a better place.”

When pressed on whether there would be enough vaccine supply for someone to get their second dose within 12 weeks, he said “we ought to” be able to deliver.

His comments came as another 1,295 deaths in the UK were reported on Saturday, the third-highest daily total since the pandemic began, but the lowest number of lab-confirmed cases this year was reported – 41,346.

A total of 11,935 positive Covid-19 cases have been reported in Wiltshire, according to the latest government figures.

As of 4pm on Saturday, January 16 for the Wiltshire local authority area, which excludes the Swindon area, the figures showed a daily increase of 253 cases.

The figures on Friday (January 15) for Wiltshire were 11,682. In Swindon the total number of cases is 8,425 compared to 8,318 yesterday.