In England, William Shakespeare receives a Covid-19 vaccine

Britain begins mass-vaccinating its people in a global drive that poses one of the biggest logistical challenges

LONDON:

William Shakespeare from Warwickshire in England was one of the first people to receive the newly approved Covid-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial on Tuesday.

The 81-year-old had the injection at University Hospital Coventry on Tuesday, 20 miles from Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of his namesake, England’s greatest dramatist and poet.

Shakespeare’s shot inspired Twitter users, who joked “The Taming of the Flu”, “The Two Gentlemen of Corona”. Some asked if Margaret Keenan was patient 1A, then was Shakespeare “Patient 2B or not 2B?”.

William Shakespeare, 81, from Warwickshire, became the second person to get the Pfizer vaccine in Coventry outside of a trial.

Get the latest #coronavirus news: https://t.co/LMPj6yS7rr pic.twitter.com/gFw04LKS1T

— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 8, 2020

 

Britain on Tuesday began mass-vaccinating its people in a global drive that poses one of the biggest logistical challenges in peacetime history.

Health workers started inoculating the most vulnerable with the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, with the country a test case for the world as it contends with distributing a compound that must be stored at -70C (-94F).

Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 in a week, was the first to receive the shot, at a hospital in Coventry, central England.

“It’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the new year after being on my own for most of the year,” she said.

A 90-year-old from Northern Ireland, Margaret Keenan, became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine shot outside of a trial as Britain began vaccinating its population https://t.co/gE1RtgWcYE pic.twitter.com/U3S35ttBrb

— Reuters (@Reuters) December 8, 2020

 

The launch of the vaccine, one of three shots that have reported successful results from large trials, will fuel hope that the world may be turning a corner in the fight against a pandemic that has killed more than 1.5 million people.

Britain, the worst-hit in Europe with over 61,000 deaths, is the first Western nation to begin mass-vaccinations and the first globally to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech shot.

But despite the relief of people receiving the first dose of the two-dose regimen, they will have to wait three weeks for their second shot, and there is no evidence immunisation will reduce transmission of the virus.

“It will gradually make a huge, huge difference. But I stress gradually, because we’re not there yet. We haven’t defeated this virus yet,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.