A 90-year-old grandmother from Northern Ireland's Enniskillen - Margaret Keenan - has become the first patient in the world to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.
She received the first COVID-19 shot at her local hospital in England's Coventry at 6.31 am from nurse May Parsons.
Commonly referred to as Maggie by her family and friends, Keenan has lived in Coventry in the West Midlands for more than 60 years. She has a son, a daughter, and four grandchildren. She is a former jewellery shop assistant who retired just four years ago and would turn 91 next week.
British grandma Margaret Keenan is first in world to get Pfizer vaccine outside trial
"I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against COVID-19, 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," BBC quoted Margaret Keenan as saying.
Soon after being administered the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by Matron May Parsons at University Hospital in Coventry, she advised people to take it if being offered.
"I can't thank May and the NHS staff enough who have looked after me tremendously, and my advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it - if I can have it at 90 then you can have it too," she added.
Margaret Keenan will receive a booster jab in 21 days to ensure she has the best chance of being protected against the coronavirus.
Apart from Margaret Keenan, the second person to have received the Pfizer shot is 81-year-old William Shakespeare from Warwickshire. Also, 87-year-old Dr Hari Shukla and his wife Ranjan (84), became the first ones in Newcastle to get the Pfizer jab, The Sun reported.
Both Keenan and Shakespeare are among the hundreds of old age pensioners (OAPs) and National Health Service (NHS) staff who will receive the vaccine on what is being dubbed V-Day.
Last week, the UK regulators approved the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson-led UK government had placed an order of 40 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine - enough for 20 million people - as two courses are needed.
As per expectations, about 800,000 doses will be available within the first week. The first batch will be administered to people in home care and carers who are over 80 years old and to some health service workers.
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