On Tuesday (December 8), 90-year-old Margaret Keenan became the first person to receive a fully-tested and approved coronavirus vaccine. The United Kingdom has started vaccinating people just six days after health officials granted an emergency use authorization to a vaccine developed by Pfizer.
"I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against COVID-19," Keenan in a press release by the U.K.'s National Health Service. "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."
The U.K. has around 800,000 doses of the vaccine ready to distribute during the initial wave of inoculations, which will cover 400,000 people because the vaccine requires two doses given about three weeks apart. Because the vaccine needs to be kept at sub-zero temperatures, only hospitals are administering the vaccine. Officials said that people over the age of 80 and frontline healthcare workers will be the first to get vaccinated.
The U.K. has ordered 40 million doses and expects to get them in the coming months. The country has also secured seven million doses of the Moderna vaccine, which could be granted approval as early as next week.
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