UK's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip received their first jabs of COVID-19 vaccinations on Saturday, Buckingham Palace said.

The two have joined around 1.5 million people in the UK to now have had at least one dose of a vaccine so far.

People aged over 80 years old are among high-priority groups which are to be given the vaccines first.

The BBC report that Queen Elizabeth II, 94, and Prince Phillip, 99, have been spending the lockdown in England at their Windsor Castle home after spending a quiet Christmas at their Berkshire residence.

The jabs were administered by a royal household doctor at Windsor Castle.

Reports in the UK note that the Queen decided the information should be made public to prevent inaccuracies and further speculation.

By Saturday, the UK had reported a total of 2,966,244 covid-19 infections and 79,965 deaths, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University.