Britain on Monday rolled out Oxford University and AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.
A dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, became the first person to get the Oxford/AstraZeneca shot outside of a trial.
“I am so pleased to be getting the COVID vaccine today and really proud that it is one that was invented in Oxford,” said Pinker, a retired maintenance manager, just a few hundred metres from where the vaccine was developed.
Britain is grappling with the world’s sixth highest death toll and one of the worst economic hits from the COVID-19 crisis. More than 75,000 people in the United Kingdom have died from COVID-19 within 28 days of a positive test.
It was the first country to roll out the vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech almost a month ago, and is prioritising getting a first dose of vaccines to as many people as possible over giving second doses.
Some experts say they are worried about such an approach.
Two new variants of the coronavirus are complicating the COVID-19 response and Britain has seen a resurgence in cases to new daily highs.
UK scientists have expressed concern that COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out may not be able to protect against a new variant of the coronavirus that emerged in South Africa and has spread internationally.
