An 82-year-old who has become the first person in the world to receive the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, as the mass rollout of the jab begins in the UK today.
Brian Pinker, who has been receiving dialysis treatment for kidney disease for several years, was given the jab by nurse Sam Foster at Churchill Hospital in Oxford at 7.30am this morning.
Oxford ‘born and bred’ Mr Pinker said the vaccine will give him peace of mind as he continues treatment and is excited to celebrate his wedding anniversary next month.
He is the first person in the world to receive the latest Covid-19 vaccine, as the NHS begins administering 530,000 doses in what the health secretary described as a ‘pivotal moment’.
The retired maintenance manager said: ‘I am so pleased to be getting the Covid vaccine today and really proud that it is one that was invented in Oxford.
‘The nurses, doctors and staff today have all been brilliant and I can now really look forward to celebrating my 48th wedding anniversary with my wife Shirley later this year.’
Chief Nursing Officer at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Ms Foster, said: ‘It was a real privilege to be able to deliver the first Oxford vaccine at the Churchill Hospital here in Oxford, just a few hundred metres from where it was developed.
‘We look forward to vaccinating many more patients and health and care staff with the Oxford vaccine in the coming weeks which will make a huge difference to people living in the communities we serve and the staff who care for them in our hospitals.’
The health secretary
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