Tight new Covid-19 restrictions which came into effect last night for millions of people in England are likely to remain until a vaccine is rolled out in a widespread way, Britain’s health secretary has indicated.

Matt Hancock was being interviewed in the last few minutes on Sky News, where he was asked by journalist Sophie Ridge if people who were waking up today in new Tier 4 areas – covering London and much of the south east of England – should expect those rules to remain until the vaccine is distributed widely.

“I think that given how much this faster this new variant spreads, it is going to be very difficult to keep it under control until we have the vaccine rolled out,” he replied, referring to a new strain of Covid-19 which has been identified by health authorities in the UK and which is surging across the south east of England. Cases have also been identified in Australia and continental Europe.

Later in the interview, he emphasised the fact that vaccines were already being distributed: “We can see the way through this but it is going to be a difficult few months.”

Britain’s National Health Service has been planning to have everyone in England vaccinated by early April, with similar programmes being rolled out across Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

A fundamental problem presented by a new strain of Covid-19 identified in England was that “more of the old measures” such as spacing and masks will be needed to control its spread, Hancock added.

“All of the measures that are in place. We need more of them.”

In a major U-turn that prompted an immediate backlash from his party, Britain’s prime minister last night placed a third of England’s population under new tier 4 restrictions to counter a Covid strain believed to be up to 70% more transmissible than previous variants.

It means people in a swathe of the south-east and east England and London will not be able to mix with other households at all over Christmas. A stay-at-home message will be enshrined in law, and non-essential shops, as well as indoor leisure and entertainment venues, will close. The measures will be reviewed in two weeks, and significant policing is being planned for New Year’s Eve.

Extra police are being deployed in London and in other areas of England’s south east to try to ensure only people who need to make essential journeys are doing so.