PRIME minister Boris Johnson has promised that hundreds of thousands of vaccines will be given to people each day by mid-January, with the help of the military.

He outlined his plans that will allow more than 1,000 GP-led sites in England to offer that many AstraZeneca or Pfizer jabs to patients on a daily basis by January 15.

Almost 1.5 million people in the UK have now received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine.

The Army will use "battle preparation techniques" to help achieve that goal, the PM added.

He said: "Let's be clear, this is a national challenge on a scale like nothing we've seen before and it will require an unprecedented national effort.

"Of course, there will be difficulties, appointments will be changed but... the Army is working hand in glove with the NHS and local councils to set up our vaccine network and using battle preparation techniques to help us keep up the pace."

Everyone will have a vaccination centre within 10 miles of their home, the PM promised.

Plus, two new life-saving drugs for Covid-19 which can cut deaths by a quarter in patients who are sickest with the disease are now available and can be used immediately.

The anti-inflammatory medications are given via a drip and save an extra life for every 12 patients treated, say researchers who carried out a trial in NHS intensive care units.

The treatments speed up patients' recovery and reduce the length of time that critically-ill patients need to spend in intensive care by about a week.

The government is working closely with the manufacturer, to ensure that the new tocilizumab and sarilumab treatments will be available.

The news came as a further 1,162 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported on Thursday - the second consecutive day of more than 1,000 recorded fatalities - and 52,618 new cases.

There are more than 30,000 Covid patients in UK hospitals - 39 per cent more than in April.