UK: Elderly dialysis patient receives Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot

On Monday, the United Kingdom (UK) began vaccinating its citizens against the COVID-19 with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, immunising 82-year-old dialysis patient Brian Pinker, a few hundred meters away from the hospital where the vaccine developed.

A retired maintenance manager, Pinker paid tribute to the scientists who developed the shot, saying that he was eager to celebrate his wedding anniversary.

In a statement released by the health service, he said, "I am thrilled to get the COVID-19 vaccine today and am proud that it was invented in Oxford."

"The nurses, doctors and staff are all talented today, and I am now really looking forward to celebrating my 48th wedding anniversary with my wife Shirley later this year."

The National Health Service (NHS) said Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group and principal investigator in Schott's trial, also received the vaccine.

Vaccine shots will be given in only a few hospitals in the UK for the first few days, to be supplied to hundreds of doctors' offices a week before officers can be seen for any adverse reactions.

Since December 8, NHS has been giving shots from a vaccine made to healthcare workers and nursing home residents and employees by Pfizer and the German firm BioNTech.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is inexpensive and easy to use, as it does not require the super-cold storage needed for the Pfizer vaccine.

Officials say the UK has about 530,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and is moving towards the goal of vaccinating two million people as soon as possible.

In a change from practices in the US and elsewhere, the UK plans to give people a second dose of both vaccines within 12 weeks of the first shot within 21 days, to make immunity in the population as rapidly as possible.

UK is the world's first nation to allow Pfizer/BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine to be used for immunisation.