PRESSURE is mounting on the Prime Minister Boris Johnson from his own party to not let the timetable for easing lockdown slip, despite warnings from senior scientists about the dangers still posed by coronavirus.

The speed of the vaccine rollout – with the 15 million people in the four highest priority groups set to have been offered a jab by Monday’s target date – has increased pressure on the Prime Minister to commit to the March 8 date for reopening schools, the first relaxation of England’s restrictions.

Data up to Wednesday shows a rise of 450,810 jabs on the previous day to 13,509,108, meaning an average of 372,723 first doses of vaccine are needed each day to reach the 15 million target.

In order to meet the Government’s promise of giving teachers, pupils and parents a fortnight to prepare for reopening, Mr Johnson will have to set out his plans on February 22.

But Downing Street would only commit to saying Mr Johnson will set out his road-map out of the lockdown that week – rather than specifically on the 22nd.

Meanwhile a member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) warned it was not sensible to set out a road-map at all at the moment.

Wellcome Trust director Sir Jeremy Farrar suggested daily infections needed to fall dramatically before any such move could be considered.

“Transmission is still incredibly high in the UK. If transmission were still at this level and we were not in lockdown, we would be going into lockdown,” he told the BBC.

His comments came after another Sage member, Professor John Edmunds, said “we will have to be under some kind of restrictions for some time” until adults had received two vaccine doses.

On Wednesday, chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said it was crucial to ease restrictions “cautiously” and rejected the setting of deadlines.

Conservative former minister Steve Baker, deputy chair of the Covid Recovery Group (CRG) of lockdown-sceptic Tories, said: “Having a full public debate is essential at this time but I fear senior scientists are failing to recognise their power to spread despair and despondency.”

He added: “I look forward to the Prime Minister’s February 22 roadmap out of restrictions so that we can all reclaim our lives once and for all.”

Some CRG members fear the goalposts for easing lockdown are shifting away from vaccinating the most vulnerable and protecting the NHS to a wider goal of suppressing cases to low levels in order to prevent the rise of mutant strains.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We want to see infection rates continue to fall across the UK not least so that will ease the pressure on the NHS and ultimately lead to fewer people sadly dying.

“We will look at the data in the round and we will use that to inform the road-map.”