82-Year-Old Man ‘Really Proud’ To Be First To Receive Covid-19 Vaccine From Oxford / AstraZeneca

Updated 6 minutes ago

AN 82-YEAR-OLD retired maintenance manager has become the first person in the world to receive the vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca outside of clinical trials.

Dialysis patient Brian Pinker received the puncture at 7:30 am Monday from nurse Sam Foster of the Churchill Hospital of the NHS Foundation of Oxford University Hospitals in England.

Pinker, who has been on dialysis for kidney disease in the hospital for several years, is pleased to receive protection against the coronavirus.

He said the jab will give him peace of mind as he continues to receive treatment, and he is now looking forward to celebrating his 48th wedding anniversary in February.

“I am very happy to receive the Covid vaccine today and really proud that it was invented at Oxford,” Pinker said.

Today’s nurses, doctors and staff have been brilliant and I am now looking forward to celebrating my 48th wedding anniversary with my wife Shirley later this year.

Along with Pinker, Trevor Cowlett (88), a music teacher and father of three, and Professor Andrew Pollard, a pediatrician who works at the NHS Foundation of Oxford University Hospitals and who also pioneered the jab of Oxford, were among the first to be vaccinated.

Nursing Chief Sam Foster said: “It was a true privilege to be able to administer the first Oxford vaccine at Churchill Hospital here in Oxford, just a few hundred meters from where it was developed.

“We hope to vaccinate many more patients and health and care personnel with the Oxford vaccine in the coming weeks, which will make a huge difference for the people who live in the communities we serve and the staff who care for them in our hospitals.” , said. .

The launch of the vaccine also began today in Northern Ireland.

A batch of 50,000 doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine has been assigned to the North, and will initially prioritize those older than 80 years.

Northern Ireland has moved to speed up the application of the jab as the spread of the virus has increased in recent weeks.

Hundreds of new vaccination sites are due to open this week in the UK, joining the 700 already in operation, to administer the first 500,000 doses of the new vaccine.

The first Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccines will be delivered at Oxford and five other trust hospitals, two in London and others in Sussex, Lancashire and Warwickshire, to allow for monitoring before most supplies are shipped to hundreds of doctors in header later this week.

NHS Medical Director Professor Stephen Powis said: “The largest NHS vaccination program in history is off to a good start, thanks to the tremendous efforts of NHS staff who have already administered more than a million injections.

“Throughout the pandemic, their response has been phenomenal, from the introduction of world-leading treatments for coronavirus that have saved the lives of patients to the delivery of the first Covid-19 vaccines out of a trial in a historic moment in history, and now the new Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is being implemented, marking another world first that will protect thousands more in the coming weeks. “

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This is a crucial moment in our fight against this terrible virus and I hope it gives everyone renewed hope that the end of this pandemic is in sight.”

Professor Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and Lead Investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, added: “It was an incredibly proud moment for me to have received the actual vaccine that Oxford University and the AstraZeneca teams have worked so hard for. to make available to the UK and the world.

As an infection pediatrician, I know how important it is that healthcare workers along with other priority groups are protected as soon as possible, a crucial role in defeating this terrible disease.