Margaret Keenan, First To Get Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine, Receives Second Jab In UK

90-year-old Margaret Keenan, noted for being the first woman in the United Kingdom and world to be administered the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials, received her second shot. The British grandmother of four had received her first jab on December 8, only a week shy of her ninety-first birthday. Her second “booster jab” will reportedly grant her immunity from the coronavirus from January 2021.

According to Mirror, Keenan's second vaccine shot was scheduled for 21 days after her first. The "booster jab" will ensure "she has the best chance of being protected against the virus." The second dose, administered to her today, will "carry immunity" from January 5 next year.

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What Doctors Are Saying

Professor Andy Hardy, the Chief Executive of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, where Keenan received her first vaccine shot, was quoted saying upon her return to Coventry, "We were delighted to welcome Margaret Keenan back to Coventry's University Hospital today to safely receive the second dose of the vaccination..."

He added that Keenan, following her first Pfizer shot, had been continuing to recover well at home.

According to Sky News, since the day the UK began administering vaccines to people in the country, around 520,000 people received their first dose in the first 13 days, over half of which were received by people aged 80 or over. Various reports suggest many who received vaccines in the initial rollout are returning for their "booster" shots.

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Margaret Keenan On Making History

Margaret Keenan, a former jewellery shop assistant, retired four years ago and has a daughter, a son, and four grandchildren. On being the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, she had said, “I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against Covid-19, it’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the New Year after being on my own for most of the year,” The Independent reported.

"My advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it – if I can have it at 90 then you can have it too,” she added.