The Queen is expected to get the Covid-19 vaccine in a matter of weeks, it has been reported.

The monarch, 94, and Prince Philip, 99, could announce when they have received the jab in a bid to shore up public support for the inoculation programme, according to newspaper reports.

Public health experts are said to be hopeful that such an announcement could carve out an early lead against the anti-vaxxer movement which could lead to large numbers of people refusing the vaccine due to misinformation.

But Elizabeth II and Philip will ‘wait in line’ during the first wave of injections reserved for older care home residents and their carers, foregoing preferential treatment, according to royal sources cited in a Mail on Sunday report.

The second wave of doses will be available to anyone over 80 and frontline health and social care workers.

Royal aides told The Sunday Times the pair’s decision was ‘personal’ and a ‘private matter’ but confirmed the Queen may ‘let it be known’ when she has received the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

Experts hope the Queen will repeat an earlier success against anti-vaccine sentiment towards the start of her reign.

In 1957 she broke with protocol dictating the monarch’s medical affairs remain private by letting it be known that Prince Charles, then 8, and Princess Anne, then 6, had been inoculated against polio.

The move was cited as a major step in quelling widespread public fears about the side effects of the jab, which effectively wiped out the poliovirus in developed countries.

Prince Charles, 72, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, 73, as well as Prince William and Kate Middleton, both 38, are also considering letting the public know when they’ve received the jab, the Sunday Times added.

Charles and his eldest son have already caught and recovered from the coronavirus.

Some 40 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine have been ordered, and are set to become available to the first priority group from December 14.

It may be some time before the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge get access to the jab, as the ninth and final priority group in line to receive the UK’s current schedule of doses are those aged 50-54.

They may have to wait until the programme is widened to include younger people who don’t have an underlying condition, or until doses become available for private purchase.

As over-70s, Charles and Camilla are in the fourth priority group alongside anyone considered to be ‘extremely clinically vulnerable’.

William has publicly backed the Oxford vaccine, which is yet to be approved by the British drugs regulator but could get the green light within days.

The government has ordered 100 million doses, which will be easier to store and distribute than the Pfizer/BioNTech equivalent due to how they’re made.

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