A woman wearing a face mask walks past a closed shop in Milan, Italy, Nov. 6, 2020. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua)

"The first vaccine available will be that provided by Pfizer, and Italy will get the first tranche of 3.4 million doses on the basis of the procurement carried out at the European Union (EU) level," Domenico Arcuri said.

ROME, Nov. 19 -- Some 1.7 million Italians will get vaccinated against coronavirus by the end of January 2021, the country's Extraordinary Commissioner for the COVID-19 Emergency Domenico Arcuri said at a press conference here on Thursday.

The official said that under the government's national COVID-19 vaccination plan, priority will be given to healthcare workers and the elderly.

"The first vaccine available will be that provided by Pfizer, and Italy will get the first tranche of 3.4 million doses on the basis of the procurement carried out at the European Union (EU) level," Arcuri said.

He said the vaccines are expected to arrive in the country in the second half of January, and the plan is for the health services to be ready by that time to immediately start the vaccination campaign.

"Since this vaccine has specific characteristics, the 3.4 million doses will allow us to vaccinate 1.7 million people by the end of January, with each person getting two doses at an interval of about three weeks," he explained.