Unfortunately, it is meant to be that way. The flashlight and camera shortcut also had to be long-pressed. I'm not inside the head of the iOS programmers, but I could imagine that long-pressed is made so that the shortcut does not activate while you have the phone in your pocket and the screen is activated. Why the same does not apply to the widgets under the lock screen clock I cannot answer.
You can try doing this, go to:
Settings -> Accessibility -> Touch -> Haptic Touch -> select Fast.
This does not eliminate the need to make a long press. But it can feel a little faster. Try it.