After Margaret Keenan, the second to be vaccinated against the coronavirus in the UK was William Shakespeare

UK health officials began applying the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday, at the start of a global vaccination process that is expected to start with the approval of more vaccines.

The first injection was received by Margaret Keenan, a Briton who will turn 91 next week, at a hospital in Coventry, central England, in the initial phase of a large vaccination program and in which she was baptized “Day V”.

Luckily, the second vaccine was William Shakespeare, an 81-year-old man who bears the same name as the illustrious playwright and poet, who declared himself “delighted” to be able to participate in a historic campaign which promises long and complicated logistics.

The patient shares more than his name with the most important English-speaking writer, i.e. both are from Warwickshire, a county in the heart of England.

You received the vaccine in the Coventry University Hospital this Tuesday morning and, like Margaret Keenan, the first Briton to receive the vaccine, it was administered by a Filipino nurse named May Parsons, who was responsible for launching what was called in the UK the “V-Day”.

The start of the vaccination program comes less than a week after the UK became the first Western country to approve the use of a vaccine against the coronavirus, in this case the one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

The UK has decided to prioritize older people, their carers and health workers.

“I feel very privileged to be the first person to be vaccinated against COVID-19, it’s the best early birthday gift I could have hoped for,” Keenan said as photographers flash and surrounded by television cameras.

The woman had been isolated since the start of the pandemic in March and thanks to the vaccine, of which she should receive a second dose in 21 days, “I can consider spending time with my family and friends in the new year”, a- she declared. quoted by the private British news agency Press Association.

The UK is the country in Europe hardest hit by the pandemic, with more than 61,400 confirmed deaths.

Russia started administering its vaccine, called Sputnik V, last weekend and in China an experimental vaccine was provided to a very small group of the population. The United States and the European Union are still awaiting approval from their regulators.

On this day that the Minister of Health, Matt Hancock, baptized “V Day”, of the vaccine … or of the victory, Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not miss the opportunity to visit a hospital in London and to talk to the first vaccinee.

“It’s amazing to see the vaccine come out, it’s amazing to see this tremendous dynamic for the whole nation but we cannot afford to relax,” he told AFP news agency.

Still “we have not conquered the virus”, he stressed, calling on everyone to accept the injection without fear.

Vaccination only started in hospitals, 50 in total, due to the need to keep the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine at a very low temperature, between -70 ° C and -80 ° C.

In recent days, the first 800,000 doses have arrived in the UK from its manufacturing laboratories in Belgium.

The order of priorities – which began with residents and nursing home workers, medical staff and those over 80 – will continue in the coming months in regressive age groups through to those of over 50 years.

Authorities have warned that most will be done in 2021 and hope to have vaccinated all vulnerable people by April, although this will depend on how quickly the next vaccine deliveries arrive.

The success of the vaccination is crucial for the Johnson administration.

The British leader has been widely criticized for his erratic policy against the pandemic and has faced a rebellion within his own Tory ranks against the severe local restrictions that took effect on December 2 after a second lockdown.

To combat the reluctance of some Britons to receive the injection, Queen Elizabeth II, 94, and her husband Prince Philip, 99, could be vaccinated in public in the coming days.

With information from Telam.

JPE