The UK is facing a "perilous moment" in the pandemic and must guard against complacency, the PM has said, as he announced a total of 2.4 million vaccinations have been given so far.
Visiting a vaccination centre in Bristol, Boris Johnson said: "We have a really tough fight on our hands."
It comes as seven mass jab centres have opened in England.
And England's chief medical officer has warned the next few weeks will be "the worst" of the pandemic for the NHS.
Prof Chris Whitty has urged people to minimise unnecessary social contacts.
Mr Johnson also announced that around 2 million people have received a Covid vaccine across the UK, which means around 400,000 people have had two doses.
He said "roughly" 40% of over-80s have been vaccinated, and 23% of elderly residents in care homes.
But the prime minister warned the vaccination programme was a "race against time" because of the pressure the NHS was under.
And he said it was "a very perilous moment because everyone can sense the vaccine is coming in - my worry is that will breed false complacency".
Asked whether the government would introduce stricter lockdown rules, Mr Johnson said ministers would keep restrictions "under constant review", adding: "Where we have to tighten the rules we will."
Meanwhile, the Test and Trace scheme in England has revised one of its definitions of a "close contact" - the people who need to be reached if they have been near to someone who has tested positive for Covid.
The definition now refers to a close contact as anyone who has been within two metres of someone for more than 15 minutes, whether in a single period or cumulatively over the course of one day.
Previously the definition was just a single period of at least 15 minutes.
The government is aiming to offer vaccinations to around 15 million people in the UK - the over-70s, older care home residents and staff, frontline healthcare workers and the clinically extremely vulnerable - by mid-February.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock will set out the government's vaccine delivery plan at a news conference later.
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Under the national lockdown, people in England must stay at home and can go out only for limited reasons such as food shopping, exercise, or work if they cannot do so from home.
Similar lockdown measures are in place across much of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Two vaccines - Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca - are currently being administered in the UK.
On Friday a third coronavirus vaccine - made by US company Moderna - was approved for use, although supplies are not expected to arrive until spring.
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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiJmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3VrLTU1NjIxMjI40gEqaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmJjLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvYW1wL3VrLTU1NjIxMjI4?oc=5
2021-01-11 14:37:00Z
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