Beginning of the end, hopefully: British woman gets first COVID 19 vaccine
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A 90-year-old British woman became the first person in the world on December 8 to get the COVID 19 vaccine outside trials. Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 in a week, was administered the vaccine at a local hospital in Coventry, central England. In what could be remembered as a historic day (labelled v-day), British health authorities on Tuesday began rolling out the independently reviewed COVID-19 vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. This marks the start of a global immunisation programme nearly a year after the first coronavirus case was detected in Wuhan, China. The University Hospital Coventry is one of several hospitals around the country involved in the initial phase of the programme.
The country’s National Health Service has given priority to vaccinating individuals aged over 80, besides frontline healthcare workers and nursing home staff. The vaccine that is injected into the arm has been developed with new messenger RNA technology using a manufactured fragment of the coronavirus’ genetic code. The immunisation is to be given over two doses, three weeks apart. During trials, the vaccine has been shown to protect up to 95% of recipients from COVID 19.
Meanwhile, scientists have asked people to exercise caution and COVID safety protocols, including mask-wearing, hand-washing and social distancing since no vaccine is 100% effective.
India’s daily COVID 19 count fell steeply on Monday as fresh cases dipped to 26, 567, the lowest since July 10. India’s Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech have also sought emergency use authorisation for their vaccine candidate.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured citizens that the country wouldn’t have to wait too long for the vaccine. “One thing, which I will definitely remind you is that the wait for a vaccine is on but in the past few days, I have met scientists, and feel that the country will not have to wait too long for it”, he said, inaugurating the construction of the Agra Metro project via video conferencing.
