An 82-year-old dialysis patient on Monday became the first person in the world to receive the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca AZN,
and the University of Oxford since it was approved for use in the UK, which is fighting a rapid increase in coronavirus cases.
Brian Pinker, a retired maintenance manager, was given the opportunity at 7:30 am GMT by nurse Sam Foster at Churchill Hospital in Oxford. “I am so happy to receive the COVID vaccine today and I am really proud that it is a vaccine invented in Oxford,” Pinker said in a statement from the National Health Service.
More than half a million doses of the vaccine from the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca AZN,
and the University of Oxford shot will be available Monday, and tens of millions more will be delivered over the next few weeks and months once batches are quality checked by regulators, the government said.
The UK government has gained access to 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, which was approved for emergency use by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency or MHRA on December 30.
Shots will be delivered to 730 vaccination sites already located in the UK, with others opening this week to bring the total to more than 1,000, the government said in a statement.
“This is a pivotal moment in our fight against this terrible virus and I hope it gives everyone renewed hope that the end of this pandemic is in sight,” said Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
Hancock’s comments come nearly a month after the UK began introducing the vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical company Pfizer PFE,
and its German partner BioNTech BNTX,
with over 1 million people now having their first dose of the two-dose injection.
Last week, the MHRA, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization and four UK chief medical officers agreed to slow the gap between the first and second vaccination dose, in an effort to protect the greatest number of people in the shortest time possible.
The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is easier to transport and store than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which must be stored at minus 70 degrees until shortly before use, making it easier to deliver in nursing homes.
The rollout of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine comes amid a resurgent outbreak of coronavirus cases in the UK, with more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases coming for the sixth day in a row. According to government data, 54,990 new infections and 454 deaths were recorded on Sunday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the national broadcaster the BBC that in parts of the country, tougher measures may be needed in the coming weeks to contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. “If you look at the numbers, there is no doubt that we will have to take tougher measures and we will announce them in due course,” said Johnson. He will be setting out plans for England at a television address Monday at 8 p.m. GMT.
Read: The slow rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in the US could predict more problems
Earlier on Monday, Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced new lockdown rules, with a legal obligation for everyone in mainland Scotland to stay at home, except for essential purposes, from midnight tonight until the end of January.
“As a result of this new variant, [the virus] has just learned to run much faster, and has certainly improved the pace in recent weeks, ”Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament.
Meanwhile, some European Union leaders have been criticized for the slow pace of their vaccination programs, which began with the shot from Pfizer – BioNTech on Dec. 27.
BioNTech Chief Executive Uğur Şahin told German newspaper Der Spiegel that the process in Europe was “certainly not as quick and straightforward” as in other countries, in part because the EU has no direct competence and member states have a say.
Read: Why France’s blundering COVID vaccination campaign is seen as a Macron fiasco and the failure of ‘ruling elite’
The French government has pledged to speed up the vaccination rate after vaccinating just over 350 people with the Pfizer-BioNtech injection in the first six days, compared to 238,000 in Germany. From Monday, medical staff aged 50 and older in France will receive the injections. Vaccines in the Netherlands will not be administered until January 8, when the IT system required for planning and recording the shots is ready.
Several European countries will extend their lockdowns due to the increase in the number of coronavirus cases. On Saturday, France switched to a curfew in 15 divisions from 8 p.m. to 6 p.m. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with Germany’s heads of state on Tuesday to decide whether the current lockdown will be extended beyond January 10.