By ‘V-Day’: Watershed moment brings ‘light at the end of the tunnel’
Britain was in an upbeat mood today after 90-year-old grandmother Margaret Keenan became the first patient in the world to receive the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine.
The UK is now the first country to begin rollout of the Pfizer vaccine – with more hospitals due be added to the vaccination list imminently.
And this afternoon it has also been announced that the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective, according to independent analysis published in the Lancet.
Researchers say the Oxford jab will have a “big impact” on the pandemic as it is both simple and cheap to produce, and can be manufactured in large quantities at low cost.
Unlike the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, it does not need to be kept at ultra low temperatures.
Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, said: “Today, we have published the interim analysis of the phase III trial and show that this new vaccine has a good safety record and efficacy against the coronavirus.
“We are hugely grateful to our trial volunteers for working with us over the past eight months to bring us to this milestone.”
The results show, on average, the vaccine efficacy was 70.4%.
In a group which received two standard doses, the efficacy was 62.1%.
But in a group which by accident, received a half dose, then a full dose, the efficacy rose to 90%.
Mrs Keenan was given the Pfizer vaccine by nurse May Parsons at Coventry’s University Hospital at 6.31am.
She said being the first was “a privilege” and “the best early birthday present I could wish for” as it would mean she could spend time with her family and friends in the New Year “after being on my own for most of the year”.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock appeared to cry live on TV this morning after “such a tough year”, saying the Covid vaccine breakthrough made him “proud to be British.”
He shed a tear on Good Morning Britain after announcing there is “light at the end of the tunnel” as people received the first jabs.
