Justifying the toughest lockdown that Britain is facing, United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the coronavirus marathon had turned into a hopeful sprint to vaccinate millions in the weeks, reports AFP.

“It is inescapable that the facts are changing, and we must change our response,” Johnson told the House of Commons on Wednesday. The UK PM added that lockdown would stay in legal force until March 31 but would be reviewed in mid-February.

The new coronavirus strain, which emerged in southern England last month, is spreading with “frightening ease and speed” and worsening the death toll from COVID-19 worldwide, Johnson said.

“After the marathon of last year we are indeed now in a sprint, a race to vaccinate the vulnerable faster than the virus can reach them,” said Johnson, who beat COVID-19 last year.

According to official data, one in 50 people was infected with the virus last week in England, and one in 30 in London as many hospitals in the nations are swamped with COVID-19 patients. 

Lawmakers were to vote on the toughest lockdown after it took effect across England overnight, forcing schools to close as part of a stay-at-home order, AFP said. The other UK nations have imposed similar measures to control the spread of COVID-19. 

By March, the British government is planning to give the first jab of COVID-19 vaccine to nearly 14 million people, including everyone over the age of 80, care residents, and all frontline medics in the National Health Service (NHS), AFP reports.

The first nation to roll out a COVID-19 vaccine with Pfizer-BioNTech shot, Britain this week began injections of home-grown jab developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

Over 1.3 million people in the UK have received the first jab of a COVID-19 vaccine as the government is delaying the second shot in order to spread as much protection around the population as possible.

Britain has vaccinated more people than the rest of Europe, Johnson stressed. 

“But if we’re going to win this race for our population we have to give our army of vaccinators the biggest head start we possibly can.”

Any easing of the lockdown would be gradual, Johnson said, adding that local elections due in May were “under review” after they were postponed once already last year.