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A 90-year-old woman has become the first person to receive a Covid injection as part of the mass vaccination program that is rolling out across the UK.
Margaret Keenan Gets Vaccine From Nurse May Parsons
Photo: AFP
Margaret Keenan, who will turn 91 next week, called it the “best anticipated birthday gift.”
His injection was the first of 800,000 doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine to be administered in the coming weeks.
Up to four million more are expected by the end of the month.
Centers in the UK will vaccinate those over 80 years of age and some health and care personnel; The program aims to protect the most vulnerable and return life to normal.
Midwife May Parsons administered the Keenan vaccine at Coventry University Hospital.
Keenan, who is originally from Enniskillen, said: “I feel very privileged to be the first person to be vaccinated against Covid-19, it is the best anticipated birthday gift I could wish for because it means that I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends. in the new year after being alone for most of the year.
“I can’t thank May and the NHS staff enough who have taken such tremendous care of me, and my advice to anyone who is offered the vaccine is to take it; if I can have it at 90, you can have it too.”
The UK is the first country in the world to start using the Pfizer vaccine after regulators approved its use last week.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there was “a long march ahead, but this marks the exit.”
He said he had felt “conflicting emotions” this morning and said he was “thrilled and delighted” to see Keenan receive his jab, but he was also “really determined that as a country we have to stick together.”
“This virus is deadly. We have to play by the rules,” he said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked the NHS and “all the scientists who worked so hard to develop this vaccine”, the volunteers and “everyone who has followed the rules to protect others.”
“We are going to get through this together,” he added.
Vaccination is not mandatory.
The government has secured the administration of some 800,000 doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for the next few weeks.
Orders have been placed for 40 million in total, enough for 20 million people, since two courses are needed.
However, most of it is not expected to be available until next year, although government sources said another four million doses should arrive in the country by the end of this month.
Hancock said he expected it would take “several weeks” to vaccinate the first group of healthcare workers, care workers and those over 80.
BBC health correspondent Nick Triggle said the NHS faced a daunting task in implementing the vaccination program, from storing the vaccines in extremely cold temperatures to obtaining a uniform supply.
There have already been reports of manufacturing problems, meaning the UK is expecting less than half of the 10 million doses of the Pfizer jab it was planning for the end of the year, he said.
Although today is a momentous time, the UK still has its hopes in the British-made Oxford University vaccine, which regulators are scrutinizing.
Hancock said he expected “a lot” that a second vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, would be approved by UK regulators in the “next two weeks.”
-BBC
