On the 1,000 per day, the politicians have finally reached a point where it "will" be their fault if they do it wrong. Whilst we had no vaccines and no real way of controlling the virus, they could be excused for flip flopping and trying to keep the economy above the water.
Now, with a solution tantalisingly close, politicians are on the hook for doing this rollout correctly and saving lives. Now they have little choice, they have to restrain the spread of the virus by controlling people until the vaccine can help them. Israel is showing that their vaccinations stop 66% of transmission. That, plus some mild controls, could work for the UK. But until we have at least 50% of the UK population vaccinated, that situation is not possible.
So we are back to lockdowns until the number of infections has dropped to a level that they believe the vaccination can cope with and hold down.
There are real numbers behind this but by the time it reaches the politicians they are buried. By the time they reach the press, they are warped out of all recognition.