London, Aug 29 (IANS): The UK government has unveiled a series of measures to allow the safe mass rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine in the near future, the Department of Health and Social Care announced.

According to the announcement on Friday, the measures include reinforced safeguards to support the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to grant temporary authorization for the use of a new vaccine, provided it meets the highest safety and quality standards, reports Xinhua news agency.

It also includes expanding the trained workforce who can administer Covid-19 and flu vaccines.

"We are making progress in developing Covid-19 vaccines which we hope will be important in saving lives, protecting healthcare workers and returning to normal in future," said Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England.

He also emphasized that it was important to make the vaccines available to patients as quickly as possible but only once strict safety standards have been met.

The measures could come into force by October, ahead of the winter season, the announcement said.