The Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, which has recently been given regulatory approval for use in the UK, has seen its first rollout as the NHS prepares to inoculate its first wave of patients.
Margaret Keenan has become the first person in the UK to be administered the new coronavirus vaccine. Credit: Bloomberg
The vaccines are to be delivered through 50 hospitals in the country with patients aged 80 and above who are already attending hospital as an outpatient.
The UK currently has over 800,000 doses of the vaccine stocked and the UK are the first nation in the world to approve a vaccine for Covid-19.
A 90-year-old woman was the first person in the UK to be administered a coronavirus vaccine.
Margaret Keenan, a former jewellery shop assistant, received the jab at 6:45am in Coventry, marking the beginning of a historic vaccination scheme. She later described the event as a "privilege."
She added: "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.
“I can’t thank [my nurse] 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.”
The Pfizer vaccine is expected to be supplemented by the vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford once it is approved for use.
Around 4 million doses of the vaccine are expected for rollout to help protect frontline workers and vulnerable patients by the end of the year.
Read more: Covid Vaccine Supply Chain Targeted By Hackers, Warns IBM
The vaccine news offers a silver lining for nations and industries battered by the effects of the pandemic.
Industries such as the aviation sector have already had to take drastic measures such as introducing coronavirus testing in order to dissuade governments from implementing lockdown measures again.
News of a vaccine has not tempered the sector as they hope to cut their losses and get travel back up and running again.
The pandemic hit the travel sector particularly hard, with over 5,000 signatories and over 20 travel and tourism boards signing an open letter back in September to urge European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen to open up the industry again.
It was also revealed earlier this year that the UK coach sector has been in danger of going under entirely without some form of government intervention.
The EU is still awaiting approval for use of the vaccines, which means its beleaguered industries will have to wait until after the new year for some form of release.
Read more: EU Vaccination Scheme Unlikely To Commence Until Next Year
The dozens of inoculation centres set up by the NHS to administer the vaccine on a mass scale are ready and waiting to help inoculate the public.
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