United Kingdom on Monday began vaccinating its people with the Covid-19 shot developed by Oxford University along with AstraZeneca. Brian Pinker, 82-year-old dialysis patient, received the first shot from nurse Sam Foster at Oxford University Hospital.“I am so pleased to be getting the COVID vaccine today and really proud that it is one that was invented in Oxford. 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,” said Pinker, according to news agency Reuters.
Nurse Sam Foster, who administered the first shot, said, “We look forward to vaccinating more patients and health and care staff with the Oxford vaccine in the coming weeks. ”Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) said in a statement that it was the first health service in the world to deliver the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine and called it a “life-saving” jab. Britain has put more than 1 million COVID-19 vaccines into arms already - more than the rest of Europe put together, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, adding that the roll out of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was a triumph. "That's a triumph of British science that we've managed to get where we are," Hancock told Sky. "Right at the start, we saw that the vaccine was the only way out long term. "Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has secured 100 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine which can be stored at fridge temperatures between two to eight degrees, making it easier to distribute than the Pfizer shot. Six hospitals in England are administering the first of around 530,000 doses Britain has ready. The programme will be expanded to hundreds of other British sites in the coming days, and the government hopes it will deliver tens of millions of doses within months.