Shortly after 90-year-old Margaret Keenan became the first person to be vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine early on Tuesday, William Shakespeare has become the second person in Britain to receive the newly approved coronavirus vaccine.
The 81-year-old namesake of England's greatest dramatist had the injection at University Hospital Coventry in Warwickshire on Tuesday morning – only 20 miles from the birthplace of the famous Elizabethan dramatist, also known as the 'Bard of Avon' in Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Matt Hancock's emotional moment
Health secretary Matt Hancock appeared very briefly overcome with emotion on live TV as he watched footage of Shakespeare getting the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine – looking down and wiping at his eye.
ITV's Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan noted he had become "quite emotional", to which Hancock replied: "It's been such a tough year for so many people – and there's William Shakespeare putting it so simply for everybody, that we can get on with our lives."
His name sparked much ado and creativity on social media, evidence that there is lot in a name. The image of Shakespeare receiving the vaccine was widely shared, with remarks such as: 'The Taming of Flu' and 'The Two Gentlemen of Corona'.
One commentator wondered if Keenan were to be called Patient 1A, would Shakespeare be "Patient 2B or not 2B?" Another said he was "glad he (Shakespeare) wasn't Bard from having it", and some hoped that "In a world when people hardly ever remember who came second, the second person to get the Covid jab might stick in the memory".
Covid vaccination begins in the UK
Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, become the first person in the world to be given the Pfizer Covid-19 jab as part of a mass vaccination programme.
In an interview with the BBC, she said it was the "best early birthday present". She was given the injection at 06:31 GMT - the first of 800,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that will be dispensed in the coming weeks.
Up to four million more are expected by the end of the month.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, 94, and her husband Prince Philip, 99, are also expected to receive the mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine in the coming weeks.
Hubs in the UK will vaccinate over-80s and some health and care staff - the programme aims to protect the most vulnerable and return life to normal.
The UK is the first country in the world to start using the Pfizer vaccine after regulators approved its use last week. Health Secretary Matt Hancock told BBC Breakfast there was a "long march ahead of us but this marks the way out".
More than 60,000 people in the UK have died within 28 days of a Covid-19 test, but there are signs the UK could be at the peak of the pandemic's second wave.
New data released by national statisticians for the week ending 27 November showed that of the 14,106 deaths registered, nearly 3,400 involved Covid.
This is 20 per cent higher than the five-year average but is similar to the percentages seen in the past two weeks.
