Highlights:
- 97 year old Hari Shukla along with his wife Ranjan have opted to get the first of two injections of Pfizer/ BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine
- The Indian origin retired race relations expert from Newcastle feels it is his duty to receive his first of the two-dose vaccine
- The process to dispense Pfizer Covid vaccine will start in the UK from Tuesday.
Hari Shukla, an 87-year-old Indian-origin man along with his wife Ranjan to have the first of two injections of Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine from the north east of against Covid-19 at a hospital in Newcastle on Tuesday.
Tyne and Wear’s Hari Shukla said he feels it is his responsibility to obtain his first two-dose vaccine, a moment when UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed it as a “huge step forward as “V-Day” or Vaccine Day in the UK was dubbed Tuesday.
Hari Shukla from Tyne and Wear said he was delighted to know that the world was coming to the end of the year-long pandemic with the launch of the vaccinations, with the UK permitting Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine its approval for emergency use.
Mr. Shukla was notified by the NHS (National Health Service) on the basis of the requirements laid down by the Joint Vaccination and Immunization Committee of the United Kingdom as part of a phased implementation plan focused on those at the highest risk of death from the deadly virus. People aged 80 and over, care home staff, as well as NHS workers at higher risk, will receive the “life-saving jab” first in line.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK), Boris Johnson said, “Today marks a huge step forward in the United Kingdom’s fight against coronavirus, as we begin delivering the vaccine to the first patients across the whole country.” He added, “I am immensely proud of the scientists who developed the vaccine, members of the public who took part in trials, and the NHS (National Health Service) who has worked tirelessly to prepare for rollout.”
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The UK PM, however, made a note of caution to warn that it would take time for mass vaccination and advised the public to remain “clear-eyed” and continue to observe the rules of lockdown throughout the coming winter months.
The NHS said it is carrying out the biggest and most widely anticipated immunization campaign in the history of 50 hospital centers, with further initial vaccinations in the coming weeks and months as the ramps up after it received the first dosage collection from the Pfizer manufacturing site located in Belgium.
On Tuesday, Britain will begin dispensing the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. Within the first week, nearly 800,000 doses are expected to be available, with care home residents and nurses, the over 80s and some health service staff getting the shots as the highest priority.
Since the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine received the green light last week from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) of the United Kingdom, the NHS said its employees were working around the clock to handle the vaccine’s large-scale logistical challenge.
A decisive turning point in the fight against the pandemic is the deployment of this vaccine. NHS vaccination services that have successfully helped to overcome measles, polio, and smallpox are now turning their attention to coronavirus. NHS employees are taking pride in leading the way with this COVID-19 jab as the first health service in the entire globe to begin vaccination, he said.
The Pfizer/BionTech formula is an mRNA vaccine that uses a small fragment of the pandemic virus’s genetic code to teach the body how to combat and develop immunity against Covid-19. It is administered in two doses 21 days apart and according to researchers, after seven days of the second dose, it has shown good immune response.
Even though the entire process has been accelerated owing to the urgency of an effective vaccine against the novel Coronavirus which has caused a pandemic that has ravaged the entire world, the MHRA has stressed that it was approved for mass rollout only after “rigorous” safety checks.
The National Medical Director of the NHS, Professor Stephen Powis, has, however, warned that the roll-out of a vaccine would be a “marathon” and not a sprint.
Before being thawed out the Pfizer vaccine has to be kept at -70C and can only be transferred inside the cold chain four times before being used. To begin administering the jab on a staggered basis, General Practitioners (GPs) and other primary care personnel have also been placed on standby.
Subsequently, vaccination centers treating significant numbers of patients in sports stadiums and convention centers will start up when additional vaccine supplies come on stream, with a majority of the rollout anticipated in the early part of the New Year.
