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- Brian Pinker, 82, was the first person to receive AstraZeneca and Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine on Monday morning, the UK’s National Health Service said.
- Pinker, a dialysis patient, said he was “so pleased” to get the shot and can now look forward to celebrating his wedding anniversary with his wife in 2021.
- The second person to get the shot was 88-year-old father-of-three Trevor Cowlett, and third was Professor Andrew Pollard who pioneered the vaccine.
- AstraZeneca and Oxford’s jab was authorized by the UK Wednesday, and will provide 100 million doses to the country – enough for 50 million people to be vaccinated.
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An 82-year-old man was the first person in the West to receive the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) said Monday.
Brian Pinker, an Oxford-based dialysis patient for kidney disease, got the shot at 7.30am GMT at Oxford University Hospital, the NHS said in a statement.
“I’m so pleased to be getting the COVID vaccine today and really proud it is one that was invented in Oxford,” Pinker said, who is a retired maintenance manager.
“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.”
The second person to receive AstraZeneca’s shot was 88-year-old father-of-three and a music teacher, Trevor Cowlett, according to the NHS. The third was Professor Andrew Pollard who pioneered the Oxford jab.
Patients must get the follow-up booster shot within 12 weeks of receiving their first dosage of the vaccine, which was 70% effective on average in a late-stage trial.
Health authorities in the UK authorized emergency use of AstraZeneca and Oxford's vaccine on Wednesday, amid surging coronavirus cases in the country.
The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the two-dose shot, enough for 50 million people to be vaccinated.
It's the second COVID-19 vaccine to be given the green light in the country after Pfizer and BioNTech's shot was authorized on December 2.
Unlike Pfizer's vaccine which has to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures, the AstraZeneca one can be kept in a standard refrigerator, making it easier to distribute and administer.
Sam Foster, chief nursing officer at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who vaccinated Pinker, told the BBC: "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 meters 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."
—NHS England and NHS Improvement (@NHSEngland) January 4, 2021