First Covid vaccine given in the UK

A 90-year-old woman from Northern Ireland has become the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine outside a clinical trial, as the UK began its mass vaccination programme.

Margaret Keenan was given the injection at University Hospital Coventry at 6.31am on 8 December. The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, has called the day V-Day.

A world first

The UK became the first country to approve the vaccine on 2 December, after the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency concluded that it was safe and effective.

Trials showed the vaccine was around 95 per cent effective at preventing Covid-19. It is given in two doses, three weeks apart.

The UK has ordered 40 million doses, enough for 20 million people.

How it works

The vaccine uses a new technology called messenger RNA, or mRNA. It contains genetic instructions that teach the body's cells to make a harmless piece of the coronavirus's spike protein, prompting the immune system to learn how to fight the virus.

It is the first mRNA vaccine to be approved for use in humans. It was developed by the German company BioNTech with the American drug company Pfizer in less than a year, a process that normally takes a decade.

Who comes first?

The first doses are going to people aged 80 and over, care home workers and NHS staff at high risk. Around 50 hospitals in England are acting as vaccination hubs, including in Birmingham.

The vaccine must be stored at around minus 70 degrees Celsius, which makes it difficult to deliver to care homes.

A second patient

The second person to receive the vaccine was William Shakespeare, 81, from Warwickshire, whose name attracted much attention on social media.

Other vaccines

Other vaccines are also being assessed, including one developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, which is cheaper and easier to store.

A long road

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has warned that it will take months to vaccinate everyone who needs it, and that people must continue to follow the rules on social distancing.

The pandemic has killed more than 60,000 people in the UK. Scientists hope the vaccines will allow life to begin returning to normal next year.