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 UK begins administering more than half a million doses from today in what was described as a ‘pivotal moment’ by the health secretary.
Retired maintenance manager Mr Pinker 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 UK has secured 100 million doses of the vaccine – enough for most of the population – with vulnerable groups prioritised.
About 530,000 doses will be available from today and tens of millions more will be delivered in the coming weeks and months once batches have been quality checked, said the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The Government said jabs will be delivered to about 730 established vaccination sites across the UK, with more opening this week bringing the number to more than 1,000.
The vaccine will be administered at a small number of hospitals in England for the first few days, including at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where it was developed.
Five other hospital trusts – two in London, and others in Sussex, Lancashire and Warwickshire – will also start delivering the vaccine on Monday.
The bulk of supplies will then be sent to hundreds of GP-led services and care homes later in the week for wider rollout, according to DHSC.
Matt Hancock said: ‘This is a pivotal moment in our fight against this awful virus and I hope it provides renewed hope to everybody that the end of this pandemic is in sight.’
But he urged everyone to keep sticking to the rules to ‘keep cases down and protect our loved ones’.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/04/brian-pinker-82-becomes-first-in-world-to-receive-oxford-covid-vaccine-13842221/