THE heroic OAPs who were first in the world to have the approved Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine have pleaded with Brits to follow their lead.
First to mark the historic moment today was 90-year-old Margaret Keenan – who celebrated having the life-saving jab with a cup of tea.
Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
The gran-of-four, known as Maggie, was given her Covid jab at 6.31am at her local hospital in Coventry, West Mids, by nurse May Parsons.
She was followed by 81-year-old William “Bill” Shakespeare, who was the second patient at the unit to have the jab.
In London, George Dyer, 90, became the first person to have the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at Croydon’s University Hospital.
Close behind them were Hari Shukla, 87, and his wife Ranjan, 83, who were the first patients to be immunised at the Royal Victoria in Newcastle.
While Lyn Wheeler received her jab in front of the Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he visited the Covid-19 vaccination hub at Guy’s Hospital in London.
As hospitals hubs will start to call in thousands of over 80s in the coming weeks, the trailblazing pensioners have urged others to do the same.
Speaking after her jab, Mrs Keenan, who turns 91 next week, said: “I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against Covid-19.
“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.”
Mrs Keenan, a former jewellery shop assistant who only retired four years ago, was given the jab by NHS nurse May Parsons.
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
Margaret Keenan
The gran-of-four said: “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 added: “I don’t mind the attention, it doesn’t bother me. I’m just happy to have it done.
“This is a terrible disease so we do want rid of it, so anything that helps is a bonus, isn’t it?”
The second person to have the injection was 81-year-old William “Bill” Shakespeare, an in-patient on the hospital’s frailty wards from Coventry who, appropriately, is local to his namesake’s county of birth, Warwickshire.
He said he was “pleased” to be given the jab, adding: “I need to say, the staff at this hospital are wonderful.”
Mr Dyer, a 90-year-old hospital volunteer, is thought to be the first person to get vaccinated in the capital.
Speaking after having his shot in Croydon, he told reporters he was looking forward to being able to go out again.
The former butcher said: “To be the first one is terrific really.”
To be the first one is terrific really
George Dyer
He added: “I miss people and being enclosed in your home, you don’t see people.
“The mere thought of going out to walking round the shops, it’s lovely. I love Christmas time, I love going round the shops, listening to the music and seeing all the goodies.”
After being the first of around 100 people to be vaccinated in Newcastle today, Dr Hari Shukla said: “I feel proud of myself that I have had this privilege of participating in this very important activity.
“I don’t take this for granted because hundreds of people have worked for this vaccine day and night to make sure we got the vaccines in good time, so the lives of people can be saved.
“The whole world is looking at us to see how things go.
“The ways things have been organised has been absolutely wonderful.
“We feel very comfortable.
“We are absolutely grateful to almighty God for giving us such a wonderful health service, which I feel is the best in the world.”
I’m going for it because I feel there’s no other way forward, we can’t keep sitting in our houses
Lyn Wheeler
Lyn Wheeler, 81, from Bromley, was the first patient to be given the jab at Guy’s and was vaccinated in front of Mr Johnson.
When he asked her how it had been, she said: “It’s all for Britain.”
She urged people to have the jab, adding: “I’m going for it because I feel there’s no other way forward, we can’t keep sitting in our houses.”
Mr Johnson said: “It was very, very exciting just to talk to Lyn about the vaccine that she has just taken.
“She is 81 and it is really very moving to hear her say she is doing it for Britain, which is exactly right – she is protecting herself but also helping to protect the entire country.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock appeared emotional during broadcast interviews on Tuesday morning, saying it was a proud day.
He told Good Morning Britain: “We’ve still got to get the vaccine to millions of people and so we’ve got to keep sticking by the rules.
“But there’s so much work gone into this and I’m really, really … it makes you proud to be British.”
Reacting to the footage of Mrs Keenan getting her jab, Mr Hancock told Sky News: “I’m feeling quite emotional, actually, watching those pictures.
“It has been such a tough year for so many people and finally we have our way through it – our light at the end of the tunnel as so many people are saying.
“And just watching Margaret there – it seems so simple having a jab in your arm, but that will protect Margaret and it will protect the people around her.
“And if we manage to do that in what is going to be one of the biggest programmes in NHS history, if we manage to do that for everybody who is vulnerable to this disease, then we can move on.”
NHS nurse May Parsons said it was a “huge honour” to be the first in the country to deliver the vaccine to a patient.
Speaking at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, she said: “It’s a huge honour to be the first person in the country to deliver a Covid-19 jab to a patient, I’m just glad that I’m able to play a part in this historic day.
“The last few months have been tough for all of us working in the NHS, but now it feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
Mrs Parsons, originally from the Philippines, has worked in the NHS for the last 24 years and been at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire since 2003.
NHS England’s national medical director, Professor Stephen Powis, said Tuesday’s vaccinations mark “the beginning of the end” of the pandemic.
“This is a turning point in this pandemic,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“This is the way out of it, the beginning of the end.
“It’s not going to happen tomorrow, it’s not going to happen next week or next month.
“We still need to socially distance, we need to follow all those restrictions in place.
“But in 2021 vaccination programmes will mean we can get back to normality.”
Britain last week became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
It will be offered free on the NHS, with health workers and people deemed highest risk getting it first.
Mr Hancock has urged people to accept the inoculation offer when it comes so the country can return to normal as quickly as possible.
He said: “I’m asking you to do your duty and get the jab.
“We will look back on today, V-Day, as a key moment in our fight back against this terrible disease.”
The vaccine will today be available from around 50 hospital hubs across the country.
Each has received an initial tray of 975 doses, which is stored at -70C and must be used within days of opening.
Up to 48,750 people could get their first jab by the end of this week. Recipients will need two, 21 days apart.
More centres will be opened in the weeks and months ahead as more supplies arrive.
The UK has ordered 40million doses, with four million expected by the end of the year.
Doctors will have to issue a prescription naming the patient and jab until regulations change to allow mass vaccination.
GPs are expected to start administering it from next week, with some taking it to care homes to give to residents.
The University of Oxford Covid vaccine, which is cheaper and easier to store, could also be approved by regulators within days.
Mr Hancock said the Government will be releasing figures on the number of people receiving a Covid-19 jab as the vaccination programme is rolled out.
He told BBC Breakfast today: “Because that itself is important in knowing how soon we can get on to releasing the restrictions, because it’s a question of how soon we’ve managed to protect those who are most vulnerable to the disease.”
Patients aged 80-plus who are already in hospital or attend for other treatment will be among the first to get it.
Others in that age group may also be invited, along with care home staff working nearby.
Any doses left in each batch will be given to high-risk NHS staff to avoid waste.
By Sir Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England
Coronavirus has undoubtedly made 2020 an incredibly challenging year for our country, and of course dedicated NHS staff responding to the worst health emergency in the 72 year history of our health service.
Nurses, doctors, paramedics, therapists, and countless others have worked tirelessly to care for nearly 200,000 seriously ill patients with Covid-19, while keeping essential services on the go for major conditions like cancer and strokes.
True to the traditions of our NHS and the spirit of our country, we pull together in darker times.
So throughout the weekend, nurses, pharmacists, doctors and many others have been working flat out at dozens of hospitals across the nation to be ready to vaccinate today.
People aged 80 and over, care home workers and residents together with at-risk staff will be first in line, with many more set to benefit in the coming months.
Many of you will be waking up this morning to news that the first patient in the world has received this vaccine since it was approved: an extraordinary achievement for science and for my colleagues working in the health service.
While the end may be in sight, we must not forget that our hospitals are still caring for many thousands of Covid patients, and we cannot let infections get out of hand. So it is vital that everyone continues to act sensibly, until further vaccine supplies become available between now and next spring.
Then as more vaccine comes available we will be able to switch on large vaccination centres across the country, alongside GP surgeries and local pharmacists offering local clinics.
The NHS will contact you when it is time to get your jab.
Protecting everyone against this terrible disease will take time, but there is now cause for hope, and there’s no doubt that NHS staff will once again rise to the challenge.
It has been an exhausting, draining year for everyone.
But today we take a decisive step in our country’s fightback against this deadly virus.
