90-year-old Ireland woman becomes first patient to receive Pfizer Covid vaccine

Margaret Keenan became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer Covid vaccine outside trial conditions after it got the green light in the UK last week.

Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old woman from Northern Ireland, receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine | @NHSEngland/Twitter

London: A 90-year-old woman from Northern Ireland on Tuesday became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine – marking the start of the UK’s mass vaccination programme.

Margaret Keenan, from Enniskillen, said she felt “so privileged” to receive the jab at University Hospital, Coventry.

Keenan became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine outside trial conditions, the BBC reported.

Since the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine got the green light from the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) last week, the National Health Service said its workers have been working around the clock to manage the large-scale logistical challenge of deploying the vaccine.