First patient to receive COVID-19 vaccine gets second shot

Margaret Keenan, the first person outside of trial to receive Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, received her second dose on Tuesday, making her the first patient to be fully immunized against the coronavirus.

Sky News reports that Keenan received her second dose at Coventry’s University Hospital, three weeks after her first dose was administered on Dec. 8.

Upon receiving her first dose of the vaccine earlier in December, Keenan told reporters that it was a “privilege” and “the best early birthday present I could wish for.” 

“We were delighted to welcome Margaret Keenan back to Coventry’s University Hospital today to safely receive the second dose of the vaccination, after she became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 following its clinical approval,” said Andy Hardy, chief executive of University Hospital Coventry.

“It’s important that everyone comes forward to get the jab when they are invited to do so and, like other hospitals and GP surgeries across the country, we’ll be following the latest expert advice and evidence to invite people to get vaccinated at the time they need it.”

Fantastic to see Margaret Keenan receive her second dose of the @Pfizer/@BioNTech_Group #coronavirus vaccine

We will get through this pandemic, together.https://t.co/jDZq6c0Ths

— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) December 29, 2020

The news outlet reports that more than 616,000 people in the United Kingdom have taken their first doses of the coronavirus vaccine, though British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last week that nearly 800,000 people had received a vaccine dose.

The U.K. has so far only approved Pfizer’s vaccine, though reports have come out that the vaccine candidate from AstraZeneca and Oxford University will be approved some time this week.

Coronavirus cases in the U.K. are skyrocketing with a record number of cases reported on Tuesday.

Apart from surging cases, the U.K. is also grappling with a new strain of the coronavirus that has been detected.

The virus variant is more infectious, scientists have said, though it does not appear to cause more severe cases of the coronavirus. Health experts in the U.S. and the U.K. have stated that the current vaccines that have been released as well as AstraZeneca’s are believed to be effective against this new strain.

The European Union launched its immunization campaign on Sunday encouraging citizens to receive the vaccine. The EU is reportedly aiming to immunize all of its adults by the end of 2021.