Last checked at 
* PM Johnson set to announce tougher restrictions
* New measures likely to come into force from midnight - BBC
* UK first to roll out AstraZeneca vaccine
* 82-year-old dialysis patient is first to get shot
* UK hails British scientific 'triumph'
* Concerns grow over South African variant
(Recasts with BBC report)
By William Schomberg, Alistair Smout and Guy Faulconbridge
LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson is set to announce later on Monday a new coronavirus
lockdown for all of England similar to the one imposed when the
pandemic hit the country in March, the BBC reported.
The measures would include school closures for most pupils
and people would be asked to work from home unless they are
unable to do their jobs remotely or are key workers, the BBC
said, adding the measures would come into effect from midnight.
Johnson is due to deliver a televised address to the nation
at 2000 GMT.
Earlier on Monday, his government touted a scientific
"triumph" as Britain became the first country in the world to
start vaccinating its population with Oxford University and
AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot.
Dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, received the first
Oxford/AstraZeneca shot outside of a trial.
"I am so pleased to be getting the COVID vaccine today and
really proud that it is one that was invented in Oxford," said
Pinker, a retired maintenance manager, just a few hundred metres
from where the vaccine was developed.
Britain is grappling with the world's sixth highest death
toll and one of the worst economic hits from the COVID-19
crisis. More than 75,000 people in the United Kingdom have died
from COVID-19 within 28 days of a positive test.
It was the first country to roll out the vaccine developed
by Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech almost a
month ago, and is prioritising getting a first dose of vaccines
to as many people as possible over giving second doses.
Some experts say they are worried about such an approach.
Two new variants of the coronavirus are complicating the
COVID-19 response and Britain has seen a resurgence in cases to
new daily highs.
UK scientists have expressed concern that the vaccines being
rolled out may not be able to protect against a new variant of
the coronavirus that emerged in South Africa and has spread
internationally.
Britain's parliament will be recalled on Wednesday to debate
the lockdown measures.
Moving ahead of Johnson, Scottish First Minister Nicola
Sturgeon earlier on Monday imposed the most stringent lockdown
for Scotland since last spring.
(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Writing by William
James, Guy Faulconbridge and Alistair Smout; Editing by Kate
Holton, Nick Macfie, Mike Collett-White and Gareth Jones)
