The UK is expecting to receive its first shipment of a new coronavirus vaccine next month, a Cabinet minister has confirmed.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden expressed confidence that the first Moderna jabs are still on course to arrive in April, in what would be a relief for the overall vaccine rollout programme, which has faced questions over AstraZeneca supplies in recent weeks.

But he was doubtful over the resumption of non-essential international travel and acknowledged all legal restrictions may not end in June as was hoped, after a Government adviser raised concerns about the full relaxation timetable.

Ministers have insisted they will meet the target of giving a jab to all adults by July, but supplies have been affected by issues in India and a row with the European Union over exports has raised concerns.

Mr Dowden insisted that the vaccination programme remains “on course”, telling The Andrew Marr Show: “We expect that in April Moderna will come.”

The UK is thought to have ordered around 17 million doses of the Moderna vaccine – enough for 8.5 million people.

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Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said the data on the Moderna vaccine was very promising.

When asked on BBC Breakfast on Sunday if the Moderna vaccine could open the door to people under 50 being vaccinated, he said: “We examined the data from Moderna which looks very promising.

“It’s a very similar type of vaccine to the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine, which everybody’s become familiar with, a messenger RNA vaccine, and I think we’ll start deploying that towards the end of April.

“If we’ve caught up with all those over-50s we want to reach out to, it makes sense to go toward our next age group, which is the 40 to 49-year-old age group.”