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U.K. Starts COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout

90-year-old Margaret Keenan is the first person in the U.K. to receive the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech.

U.K. Starts COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
Jacob King / AP
By Scripps News Staff
SMS
December 8, 2020

A historic day in the fight against the pandemic. In the United Kingdom, the first doses of Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine were distributed this morning, making Britain the first country to rollout the vaccine. 

Take a look at this — this image is sure to be in history textbooks.

That's Margaret Keenan. The 90-year-old grandmother was the first person to receive a dose of the Pfizer vaccine. 

And she says others should get it too.

Margaret Keenan: "I would say go for it. Go for it because it’s free and it’s the best thing that’s ever happened at the moment so do please go for it. That’s all I say, you know? If I can do it well, so can you."

Nurses lining the hall to applaud her on her way out. People over the age of 80 and those working in nursing homes are first in line to receive it. It's a two-dose vaccine, with a second shot required three weeks after the first.