Grandma Becomes World’s First Person To Receive Covid-19 Vaccine

• 90-year-old Margaret Keenan became the world’s first person to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for Covid-19.
• Keenan’s vaccination arks the beginning of a mass vaccination program in the UK.
• Nurse May Parsons administered the shot.

A grandmother from the United Kingdom has officially made history after becoming the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. 90-year-old Margaret Keenan of Northern Ireland was vaccinated today at 6:45 am at the University Hospital Coventry, reported Guardian.

In an interview, Margaret shared that she feels “so privileged” to be the first person to ever get vaccinated against the coronavirus. She considers it as an early birthday gift as she will be turning 91 next week.

“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 happily said.

May Parsons, a Filipina nurse in the UK, was tasked to administer the shot.

“I’m just glad that I’m able to play a part in this historic day,” remarked May. “The last few months have been tough for all of us working in the (National Health Service), but now it feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

Margaret likewise expressed her gratitude for everyone who made the vaccination possible.

“I can’t thank May and the NHS staff enough who have looked after me tremendously, and my advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it – if I can have it at 90 then you can have it too,” she said.

Margaret’s vaccination marks the first step for a mass vaccination campaign. It will begin in 50 hospital hubs in the UK. Millions of vaccine doses are also scheduled to arrive within the month.

Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, pointed out:

“Less than a year after the first case of this new disease was diagnosed, the NHS has now delivered the first clinically approved Covid-19 vaccination – that is a remarkable achievement.

“A heartfelt thank you goes to everyone who has made this a reality – the scientists and doctors who worked tirelessly, and the volunteers who selflessly took part in the trials. They have achieved in months what normally takes years.

“My colleagues across the health service are rightly proud of this historic moment as we lead in deploying the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.”

Meanwhile, the second patient to receive the vaccine is an 81-year-old man from Warwickshire named William Shakespeare.