A 90-year-old grandmother named Margaret Keenan became the first person in the world outside of a clinical trial to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the UK. The second was an 81-year-old man named – if you can believe it – William Shakespeare. Both received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
Said Keenan on the NHS: “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. 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!”
Newsweek reports: “The second person in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccination outside of a clinical trial is named William Shakespeare. The resident of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands, U.K., was given the COVID shot at the University Hospital Coventry, immediately catching the attention of social media users as he shared his name with the famous English playwright.”
