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* 90-year-old grandmother gets Pfizer vaccine
* Britain rolls out COVID vaccine, first in the West
* 'I feel so privileged' says first vaccine recipient
(Adds background)
By Kate Holton
LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old
grandmother from Northern Ireland, became the first person in
the world on Tuesday to receive the Pfizer COVID-19
vaccine shot outside of a trial as Britain began vaccinating its
population.
An early riser, Keenan received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine
at her local hospital in Coventry, central England, on Tuesday
morning at 0631 GMT, a week before she turns 91.
A video showed Keenan being pushed in a wheelchair out of
the ward while nursing staff clad in protective gear lined the
corridor to applaud and cheer, in an echo of moving video clips
released through the year when COVID-19 survivors finally left
hospital.
Britain is the first Western country to start immunising its
general population in what has been hailed as a decisive
watershed in defeating the coronavirus.
"I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated
against COVID-19," said Keenan, as she received the shot from a
nurse originally from the Philippines in front of a photographer
and TV crew.
"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."
Keenan, known as Maggie to her friends, is a former
jewellery shop assistant who only retired four years ago. She
has a daughter, a son and four grandchildren.
Video footage showed her wearing a light blue mask, a grey
cardigan along with a blue t-shirt with a penguin in snow and
the message "Merry Christmas" as she received the shot in her
left arm from nurse May Parsons.
"WE WILL BEAT THIS TOGETHER"
Parsons, one of many thousands of people from around the
world employed in Britain's National Health Service (NHS), where
she has worked for 24 years, said the last few months had been
tough, but there was now light at the end of the tunnel.
Britain is the worst-hit European country from COVID-19,
with over 61,000 deaths. Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes to
turn the tide against the disease by rolling out the
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine before the United States or European
Union.
The mass inoculation will fuel hope the world may be turning
a corner in the fight against a pandemic that has crushed
economies and killed more than 1.5 million, although ultra-cold
storage and tricky logistics will limit its use for now.
"Thank you to our NHS, to all of the scientists who worked
so hard to develop this vaccine, to all the volunteers - and to
everyone who has been following the rules to protect others,"
Johnson said on Twitter.
"We will beat this together."
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Stephen Powis,
medical director for NHS England, said they both found it very
emotional watching the vaccine programme rollout.
The BBC said the second patient to receive the jab in
Britain was a man named William Shakespeare from Warwickshire.
Britain has ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech
shot. As each person requires two doses, that is enough to
vaccinate 20 million people in the country of 67 million.
About 800,000 doses are expected to be available within the
first week, with care home residents and carers, the over-80s
and some health service workers the top priority to get them.
(Editing by Estelle Shirbon, Guy Faulconbridge and Gareth
Jones)
