No decisions have been made on vaccinating 12-15 year olds and it is inaccurate to suggest otherwise, the department said in an emailed statement late on Wednesday
The number of doctors -- 2.8 per 1,000 people -- is also "well below EU averages", while Britain has the second-lowest number of hospital beds in Europe.
The first daily vaccination statistics showed that nearly 2.3 million people had so far received their first doses of a COVID vaccine and nearly 400,000 had received a second dose.