Lord of Rings star Ian McKellen, 81, received a coronavirus vaccine on Thursday and became one of the first celebrities to receive the photo.
“I feel so happy and relieved and optimistic and everything that I haven’t felt for a long time,” he told reporters. “I couldn’t be happier.”
JEFF MOORE
The British actor recently received approval Pfizer BioNTech Vaccine at Queen Mary’s Hospital in London. Despite getting the shot, he plans to keep wearing a mask.
“ I keep wearing the mask and social distancing and all that but it does mean I can imagine going back to work and interacting with people and being pretty safe I feel very special and it’s a very happy this day i am actually a bit euphoric. “
McKellen will return in three weeks for a second dose of the vaccine and encourage others to get it.
“I would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone,” McKellen posted later on Facebook. “I’m lucky to have had the vaccine.”
He added that “anyone who has lived as long as I have is alive because they have had previous vaccinations.”
The first 800,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the UK go to people over 80 who have been hospitalized or have already scheduled outpatient appointments, along with nursing home employees. Others will have to wait their turn, but all vaccinations will be provided free of charge through the UK National Health Service.
Meanwhile, in the US, Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is now distributed nationwide, ushering in the largest vaccination effort in the country’s history.