The Lister Hospital Hospital in Stevenage could be among the first in the UK to receive the new Covid vaccine.

Across the country, 50 hospitals have been chosen to take receipt of the life-saving jab that has now been approved for clinical use by regulators.

The move comes after the UK became the first western country to licence a vaccine, with PM Boris Johnson saying it is a 'huge moment' in the fight against Covid.

The East and North Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS trust, which includes the Lister, is on the government list, and is set to receive the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech shortly.

The trust also includes Hertford County Hospital and New QEll Hospital in Welwyn Garden City.

How many doses will the UK receive and when?

The government has ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, enough for 20m people with the first 800,000 set to arrive by air and Eurotunnel over the next few days from a plant in Belgium.

Who will be vaccinated first - and what about the logistics?

The government's announcement that the jab will be ready to roll out this month comes under a provision of the Human Medicines Regulations act, passed in 2012, which allows the rapid licensing of medicines in the event of a great emergency, such as a pandemic.

Care home residents and key workers are expected to be the first group that will receive the jab, followed by the over-80s and health and social workers.

However, logistical reasons may dictate where the jabs will be administered to start with.

The chief executive of NHS England, Sir Simon Stephens has said that, initially, from next week, vaccinations will take place in hospitals such as the Lister, not in care homes, for logistical reasons.

He explained that once the government regulator approves a way of splitting up the vaccine - which comes in packs of 975 and has to be stored at -70C - it will be distributed to care homes, before vaccination centres will start offering the jab.

Sir Stephens also said that the majority of vaccinations for people in the at-risk category will take between January and March or April.

It is intended, that, eventually, GP practices will start operating local vaccination centres, with around 1,000 such places across England set to come into operation in the new year, with the government to confirm more details over the coming days and weeks.

Sir Stephens added that from January it is expected local pharmacists should be able to offer the vaccine as well.

Meanwhile, sources are indicating the Robertson House Conference Centre, in Gunnels Wood Road in Stevenage, is set to be the possible destination for a mass vaccination centre in Hertfordshire.

Many thousands of people will be able to receive vaccinations at the proposed centre on a daily basis, quite possibly in the run-up to Christmas and into 2021.

Extensive medical trials have shown the Pfizer vaccine is 95 per cent effective and has passed strenuous safety checks.

Do I need to apply for a vaccine or will I be notified when it's my turn to have one?

The government in Wales has told its citizens to wait to be called for a jab - with the expectation that something similar will occur in England.

Will there be side-effects to the vaccine?

People will need two doses, 21 days apart via a needle into the arm. Doses will have to be reserved for those who get a first dose this month.

Protection to Covid is expected to develop after around seven days from the time the vaccine was administered - so the process will take around a month in total.

Those taking part in trials reported sore arms, fever and muscle aches but nothing dangerous. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is expected to monitor for any serious side effects with the volunteers in clinical trials monitored for two years.

PM expresses caution

Tempering excitement, the Prime Minister Johnson said: "It will inevitably take some months before the most vulnerable are protected - long, cold months - so it's all the more vital that as we celebrate the scientific achievement, we're not carried away with over-optimism, or fall into the naive belief that the struggle is over."

Here is the full list of NHS hospitals set to receive the vaccine next week:

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals

Cambridge University Hospitals

Chesterfield Royal Hospital

Countess of Chester Hospital

Croydon University Hospital

Dartford and Gravesham Hospitals

Dorset County Hospitals

East and North Hertfordshire Hospitals

East Kent Hospitals

East Suffolk and North Essex Hospitals

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust

Gloucestershire Hospitals

Great Western Hospitals

Guys & St Thomas NHS Trust

James Paget University Hospitals

Kings College Hospital

Princess Royal University Hospital, Kings

Lancashire Teaching Hospital

Leeds Teaching Hospital

Leicester Partnership NHS Trust

Liverpool University Hospitals

Medway NHS Foundation Trust

Mid and South Essex Hospitals

Milton Keynes University Hospital

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital

Northampton General Hospital

North Bristol NHS Foundation Trust

North West Anglia Foundation Trust

Nottingham University Hospitals

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

Portsmouth Hospital University

Royal Cornwall Hospitals

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals

Sherwood Forest Hospitals

Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust

St George's University Hospitals

The Newcastle Upon Type Hospitals

University College Hospitals

University Hospitals Birmingham

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire

University Hospitals Derby Burton

University Hospitals of North Midlands

University Hospitals Plymouth

United Lincolnshire Hospitals

Walsall Healthcare

West Hertfordshire Hospitals

Wirral University Teaching Hospital

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals

Yeovil District Hospital