UK gives COVID-19 vaccine for the first time

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Margaret Keenan, 90, was the first in the UK to receive Pfizer / BioNTech covid-19 vaccine at a university hospital at the start of the largest vaccination program in history and was applauded by staff when he returned to the ward. It was.

London — UK health officials began initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which was widely tested and independently reviewed on Tuesday, and is expected to gain momentum as more sera get approval. It was started.

The first shot was given to Margaret Keenan, who will turn 91 next week, at the University Hospital Coventry, one of several hospitals nationwide that handles the early stages of a program called “V-Day.” If you’re lucky, the second injection was given to a man named William Shakespeare, 81, from Warwickshire, the county where Bird was born.

“I am very honored to be the first person to be vaccinated against COVID-19,” said Keenan, a former jewelry store assistant. scarf. “After spending most of the year alone, I’m finally looking forward to spending the New Year with my family and friends, so this is the best early birthday gift I can hope for.”

The first 800,000 doses are intended for people over the age of 80 who are hospitalized or who are already scheduled for outpatient appointments and nursing home workers. Others have to wait for their turn.

Public health officials require patients to be patient, as only those at highest risk of the virus will be vaccinated at an early stage. Medical staff will contact people to arrange appointments, and most will have to wait until next year before there are enough vaccines to expand the program.

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Stephen Pawis, director of the National Health Service’s National Health Service, said the first out-of-test injection of the vaccine was a moving moment.

“It really feels like the beginning of the end,” Powis said. “2020 was a really scary year. Everything we were used to, such as meeting friends and family, getting to the cinema, was interrupted. We can get them back. It’s not tomorrow. Not next week. Not next month. But in the coming months. “

Buckingham Palace refused to comment on reports that Queen Elizabeth II, 94, and her 99-year-old husband, Prince Phillip, were vaccinated as a public example of shot safety.

Public health officials elsewhere are monitoring the UK’s deployment in preparation for an unprecedented mission to vaccinate billions to end a pandemic that killed more than 1.5 million people. The UK has a well-developed infrastructure for delivering vaccines, which is aimed at delivering vaccines to groups such as school children and pregnant women, rather than the entire population.

The UK is off to a good start on the project after UK regulators granted an emergency permit to vaccines manufactured by US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German BioNTech on December 2. US and European Union authorities are also considering vaccines, along with rival products developed by US biotechnology company Moderna and a collaboration between Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

On Saturday, Russia began vaccination of thousands of doctors, teachers and others with the Sputnik V vaccine at dozens of centers in Moscow. The program looks different as Russia allowed the use of shots after being tested by just a few dozen people last summer.

The first shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was delivered to a selected group of UK hospitals on Sunday.

At one of those facilities, Croydon University Hospital, south of London, staff weren’t touching the vials, but were excited just to put them in the building.

“I’m very proud,” said Louise Coughlan, a pharmacist at the Joint Chiefs of Staff at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust.

The vaccine cannot arrive early enough for the UK, which has more than 61,000 COVID-19-related deaths. This is more in Europe than in any other country. There are more than 1.7 million cases in the UK.

800,000 doses are only a fraction of the required amount. The government has targeted more than 25 million people, or about 40% of the population, in the first phase of the vaccination program, giving top priority to those at highest risk of the disease.

After working as a caregiver over the age of 80, the program will be expanded as supply increases, and vaccines will be provided by the oldest, roughly based on age group.

In the UK, the first wave of the program will provide vaccines to 50 hospital hubs, and as deployment progresses, more hospitals are expected to provide vaccines. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have their own plans under the UK’s delegated administrative system.

Since the Pfizer vaccine must be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit), distribution of the Pfizer vaccine has been delayed due to logistics issues.

Professor Stephen Powis, medical director of NHS England, said the vaccination program will be a “marathon, not a sprint.”

Authorities are also focusing on large distribution points because each package of vaccine contains 975 doses and we do not want to waste them.

The UK has agreed to purchase millions of doses from seven different producers. Governments around the world have reached agreement with multiple developers to ensure that the delivery of products that are ultimately widely approved for use is fixed.