HEALTH Secretary Matt Hancock has refused to rule out another national lockdown amid concerns that the new coronavirus variant is spreading out of control.

Mr Hancock hailed the start of the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine as 82-year-old former maintenance manager Brian Pinker became the first to receive the jab outside of clinical trials.

He said the NHS had the capacity to deliver two million doses a week of the vaccine once it received supplies from the manufacturers.

But with the latest data showing a 33 per cent rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus patients in hospital in England between Christmas Day and January 2, he warned there would be some ‘very difficult weeks’ to come.

Asked about the prospect of another national lockdown, he acknowledged that the current restrictions were insufficient to control the spread of the disease.

Northwich Guardian:

Brian Pinker receives the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine

He told Sky News: "We don't rule anything out, and we've shown repeatedly that we will look at the public health advice and we will take the public health advice in terms of what is needed to control the spread of the disease.

"This new variant is much easier to catch – it is much more transmissible, and we're now seeing the effect of that in lots of different parts of the country, unfortunately.

"And it means that whereas the old tier 3 was able to contain the old variant, that is proving increasingly difficult in all parts of the country."

Despite the concerns, Mr Hancock insisted it was safe for primary schools to reopen in all but the worst hit areas of England following the Christmas break.

He said that teachers were at no greater risk of contracting the disease than the rest of the population.

"There is clear public health advice behind the position that we have taken and that is what people should follow because, of course, education is very important as well, especially for people's long-term health," he said.