Covid-19 vaccine: UK’s first citizens receive a vaccine, a historic moment in the pandemic

“This is for a good cause, so I am very glad I did. It is a terrible, terrible disease, so we want to get rid of it.”

Keenan advised other vaccine-eligible people to accept the offer: “I’d say go ahead,” he said. “If I can do it, well, you can too.”

May Parsons, the nurse who administered the first puncture, said she was honored to participate in the program.

“The last few months have been tough for all of us who work in the NHS, but now there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel,” said Parsons, who is originally from the Philippines and has worked in the NHS for 24 years.

81-year-old William Shakespere, known to friends as Bill, was the second person to receive the Covid-19 vaccine at Coventry hospital on Tuesday. Shakespere, a patient in the hospital’s frailty ward, sat with his grandchildren’s artwork nearby when he was hit.

In London, George Dyer became one of the first people in the capital to receive the Croydon Health Services vaccine, while nurse Joanna Sloan was the first person in Northern Ireland to receive the vaccine.

Gill Rogers, whose husband died of the virus at a residence in April, was among the first to receive the vaccine in Sussex, in the south-east of England, on Tuesday.

The 86-year-old, who lives near Brighton, told the BBC that it had been “quite difficult” to deal with the pain and isolation and that getting the injection meant she wouldn’t have to be as careful.

“I’m a bit happy,” she said. “I will not be so careful, no, I will not be so worried, I will go to the stores more and hopefully I will get on public transport.”

“I wasn’t doing much before, because while my husband was alive, he spent a lot of time going to the nursing home, so I’ve been pretty limited for a long time,” she said.

Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, told British media on Tuesday morning that the vaccine “will gradually make a huge, huge difference.”

Visiting an NHS Covid-19 vaccination center in London, Johnson said: “It is important for people to understand that unfortunately the virus is still increasing in some parts of the country. It is increasing, for example in London.”

He said the UK had reduced the spread of the coronavirus, thanks to measures that included England’s national lockdown in November.

“And my message would be that it is incredible to see the vaccine come out, it is incredible to see this tremendous injection in the arm for the whole nation, but we cannot afford to relax now,” said the prime minister.

“I would just say to all those who are scared, do not … see that people get vaccinated this morning, in large quantities, people are going to take it in the next days, and weeks and there is nothing to be nervous about” .

What happens next

The UK has ordered 40 million doses of the vaccine, but only 800,000 injections will be available as part of the first wave that began Tuesday.

Because the vaccine requires two doses, administered at least three weeks apart, the UK will eventually have enough injections to vaccinate roughly a third of the country’s population. The country also ordered 7 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, which could be approved for emergency use in the UK in the coming weeks.

There will be 50 vaccination centers in hospitals in England and dozens more in Wales and Scotland. People over the age of 80 and frontline healthcare workers who are at the highest risk for serious illness from Covid-19 will be the first to be vaccinated.

In England, the first wave of vaccines will only be administered in hospitals. In Wales, all health boards began today to administer the country’s 40,000 doses; they expect to have given more than 6,000 injections by the end of the week.

The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine offers 95% protection against Covid-19. According to the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), more than one in 10 recipients may experience side effects including injection site pain, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain and fever. Some other less common side effects are also listed.

It is not yet clear how long the immunity provided by the vaccine lasts, or if those who have had it can still transmit the coronavirus to others.

More than half of British adults say they would trust a coronavirus vaccine that has been approved for use, according to a survey by Savanta ComRes for CNN affiliate ITV News.

According to the survey of 2,090 British adults, conducted between 20-22 November, before the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine was approved for use in the UK, 57% of respondents said they would trust a vaccine after approval, compared to 16% who said they would not trust one.

Almost half (47%) of British adults said they were comfortable with developing Covid vaccines faster than normal. Almost a quarter (23%) said no.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Tuesday called the start of the vaccination program a “great moment in the scientific endeavor”, saying the vaccine “can start to cure this disease around the world and protect people everywhere. “

In an interview with Sky News Tuesday morning, Hancock said there was still “an enormous amount of work to be done” but that it might be possible to lift the UK’s coronavirus restrictions in the spring if enough have been vaccinated by then people. He urged the audience to “keep your nerve and stick together and follow the rules.”

While the UK’s immunization program started with a bang on Tuesday, the vaccine remains out of reach for the vast majority of people.

For now, it’s available by invitation only to people 80 and older, nursing home staff, and front-line health and social care workers. Nursing home residents were also expected to be prioritized, but the government said last week that this will not happen immediately.

The NHS said in a statement Tuesday that vaccine centers will be set up in locations including sports facilities and conference centers to treat large numbers of patients once more vaccine supplies are available.

Hari Shukla, 87, of Tyne and Wear in northeast England, will be one of the first to be vaccinated at a Newcastle hospital on Tuesday night. Before the coup, he thanked the UK National Health Service for their work during the pandemic and said his staff “have a heart of gold.”

“I am very happy that hopefully we are reaching the end of this pandemic and I am delighted to do my bit by receiving the vaccine. I feel like it is my duty to do so and do whatever I can to help,” Shukla said. in an NHS statement.

The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to follow the UK MHRA and authorize emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine as soon as this week; your vaccine advisory committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday.

The European Medicines Agency will make its decision on the vaccine on December 29, according to the European Commission.