Mass vaccinations began in Great Britain Dec. 8, which is now being dubbed V-Day. The first to be vaccinated will be those over 80, care home workers, and at-risk frontline health and social care staff. The first two to receive the vaccine were a woman who turns 91 next week, and an 81-year-old man named William Shakespeare.
The vaccine requires a second dose 21 days after the first. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which received regulatory approval Dec. 2, is produced in Belgium.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson called it a “huge step forward in the U.K.’s fight against coronavirus.” The head of the U.K.’s National Health Service said it was a “decisive turning point” against the “greatest health challenge” since the NHS was founded in 1948.
