LONDON (REUTERS) - Ms Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother from Britain, has become the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine outside of a trial following its clinical approval.
An early riser, Ms Keenan received the jab at her local hospital in Coventry, central England, on Tuesday (Dec 8) morning at 0631 GMT (2.31pm Singapore time), a week before she turns 91.
Britain began rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech on Tuesday, the first Western country to start vaccinating its general population in what was hailed as a decisive watershed in defeating the coronavirus.
The mass inoculation will fuel hope that the world may be turning a corner in the fight against a pandemic that has crushed economies and killed more than 1.5 million, although ultra-cold storage and tricky logistics will limit its use for now.
"I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against Covid-19," said Ms Keenan.
"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."
LONDON: Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother from Britain, has become the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine outside of a trial following its rapid clinical approval.
She received the jab at her local hospital in Coventry, England, on Tuesday (Dec 8) morning at 6.31am UK time.
Britain began rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech on Tuesday, in what was hailed as a decisive watershed in defeating the coronavirus.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has arrived in Britain and will be rolled out from Tuesday, Dec 8, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Yui Mok)
The mass inoculation will fuel hope that the world may be turning a corner in the fight against a pandemic that has crushed economies and killed more than 1.5 million, although ultra-cold storage and tricky logistics will limit its use for now.
"I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against COVID-19," said Ms Keenan.
"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 first patients in line on what has been dubbed "V-Day" - the over-80s, care home workers and at-risk frontline health and social care staff - will roll up their sleeves for an initial dose from early morning.
They will then require a second jab in 21 days' time.
Last week Britain became the first country to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Britain has been one of the worst-affected countries in the world, with more than 61,000 deaths in the outbreak from 1.6 million cases.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who spent days in intensive care with COVID-19 earlier this year, called it a "huge step forward in the UK's fight against coronavirus".
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who has offered to have the jab on live television to allay public fears, said the roll-out was a "key moment" that would protect the most vulnerable.
The head of the state-run National Health Service in England, Simon Stevens, said it was a "decisive turning point" against the "greatest health challenge" since the NHS was founded in 1948.
Regulatory approval for the vaccine was given last Wednesday, sparking a race against time to prepare scores of vaccination centres across the country.
The UK has ordered 40 million doses of the jab - enough to vaccinate 20 million people - with 800,000 in the first batch.
Up to four million doses are expected by the end of December.
The public has been largely favourable to the rapid approval of the vaccine. (Photo: AFP/Yui Mok)
QUEEN COULD LEAD WAY
The mass vaccination drive is a coordinated response by all four nations of the UK - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - which normally set their own health policies.
The public has been largely favourable to the rapid approval of the vaccine, but ministers and health professionals are aware they still need to combat mistrust.
NHS England said thousands had already been given the jab during trials with no serious side effects.
Nevertheless, it has been reported Queen Elizabeth II, who at 94 is among those first in the line for the vaccination because of her age, could front a public awareness campaign urging compliance.
The government said it will hand out vaccine cards to remind people to get the booster after three weeks, but insisted it was not introducing immunity certificates.
Queen Elizabeth II, who at 94 is among those first in the line for the vaccination, could front a public awareness campaign. (Photo: AFP/Aaron Chown)
"MARGINAL IMPACT" IN WINTER
The chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said the vaccine will as a result only have a "marginal impact" on hospital numbers over the winter months.
Johnson called for patience and urged the public to stick to strict social distancing guidelines to prevent a spike in cases, particular as rules are relaxed over Christmas.
Health officials have already run into a logistical headache about how to administer the vaccine to elderly or infirm care home residents.
The vaccine needs to be stored at -70 degrees Celsius, leaving hospitals and other medical hubs as the only places able to deal with such ultra-low temperatures.
With the Pfizer-BioNTech drug made in Belgium, concerns have also been raised about potential disruption to supply when Britain leaves the European Union's single market and customs union.
But the UK government said the military is on stand-by to air-lift the vaccine if there is any border disruption from Jan 1.
The bulk of Britain's vaccine requirements are expected to be met by a jab developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, which is awaiting regulatory approval.
The government has ordered an initial 100 million doses of the drug, which is cheaper to manufacture, and easier to store and transport using conventional fridges.
OTTAWA: Canada will start receiving its first doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine before the end of December, sooner than expected, with millions more to follow in early 2021, officials said on Monday (Dec 7).
The news could help the minority Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fend off attacks from opposition parties that have accused Ottawa of acting too slowly to tackle a worsening coronavirus second wave.
Officials had initially expected to receive a total of six million doses of vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna by the end of March.
That would be enough to inoculate three million people as both vaccines require two shots about a month apart.
But Trudeau said up to 249,000 doses of the vaccine Pfizer is producing with German partner BionNTech SE would arrive this month, and a further three million doses should be delivered at the start of 2021.
"It has been a difficult year, and we are not out of this crisis yet. But now, vaccines are coming," he told a briefing, repeating that Ottawa expects health regulators to approve the Pfizer vaccine this week.
Several provinces are reimposing restrictions on businesses and limiting the size of gatherings as the number of new cases sets daily records. Canada has reported a total of 415,182 cases of COVID-19 and 12,665 deaths.
The doses will initially be delivered to 14 sites so priority groups such as healthcare workers, the elderly and people living in remote indigenous communities can be inoculated against the virus. The Pfizer vaccine was shown to be 95 per cent effective at preventing illness in a large clinical trial.
The armed forces will help with what Trudeau called the "incredibly complex" task of distributing the vaccines across what is the world's second largest nation by area, much of it remotely populated.
Erin O'Toole, leader of the official opposition Conservatives, said it was unacceptable Trudeau had not made clear when every Canadian would be vaccinated.
WASHINGTON: The United States on Monday (Dec 7) imposed new sanctions on Chinese officials over the clampdown on Hong Kong and took a step toward welcoming in residents of the city, as US leaders across the political spectrum voiced outrage at Beijing.
President Donald Trump's administration has been using its waning days to ramp up pressure on China, a rare point of unity with President-elect Joe Biden who has signalled he will maintain a tough line, if not always the same bellicose tone.
In its latest move, the Trump administration said it was freezing any US assets and barring travel to the United States of 14 vice chairs of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, which spearheaded a tough new security law in Hong Kong.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States was holding Beijing accountable for its "unrelenting assault against Hong Kong's democratic processes".
The Trump administration, however, stopped short of punishing the committee's chairman, Li Zhanshu, sometimes described as a right-hand man of President Xi Jinping, who has forged an on-again, off-again friendship with Trump.
The United States has already slapped sanctions on Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leader, Carrie Lam, and has declared that it no longer will treat the financial hub separate from China.
While Lam has sought to play down the effect of US moves, she acknowledged in a recent interview that she relies on "piles of cash" as she can no longer maintain a bank account due to pressure from the US Treasury Department, which has broad influence over dollar-denominated transactions.
Representative Tom Malinowski, a member of Biden's Democratic Party who led the Hong Kong act, said that welcoming people was more powerful than deciding to "slap a few sanctions" on Chinese officials.
"The best way to win against a dictatorship is to pit the strength of our system against the weakness of theirs, to hold up the glaring contrast between our free, open and self-confident democracy against the weakness of the oppressive, closed and fearful system that the Communist Party has imposed on the Chinese people, including now in Hong Kong," Malinwowski said on the House floor.
"It's actually much more than a humanitarian gesture - it's one of the best ways to deter China from crushing Hong Kong," Malinowski said.
Supporters show signs for Hong Kong pro-democracy activists Agnes Chow, Ivan Lam and Joshua Wong outside a court on Dec 2, 2020 after the three were given jail time. (Photo: AFP/Peter Parks)
Hong Kong residents would enjoy so-called Temporary Protected Status for five years, joining citizens of conflict-ridden states such as Syria who cannot be deported and will have the right to work in the United States.
The move still needs approval by the Senate but it has support across party lines - unlike a previous bid by Democrats to extend the status to Venezuelans, which was effectively blocked by Trump's Republicans.
The Trump administration has described decades of efforts to engage China to be a failure and the US intelligence chief, John Ratcliffe, last week called Beijing "the greatest threat to democracy worldwide".
In other steps last week, Pompeo terminated five Beijing-funded exchange programs, calling them propaganda tools, and said the State Department would limit the validity of visas for any members of the Chinese Communist Party and their family members - a decision that could affect hundreds of millions of people.
CURBING DISSENT
China's parliament pushed through the new security law in June despite international warnings that it was violating a promise to allow a separate system in Hong Kong made before Britain handed over its colony in 1997.
Through the law, China has largely succeeded in stamping out protests that rocked Hong Kong last year.
Young Hong Kong activists Joshua Wong (center) and Ivan Lam (left) board a police van on Dec 2, 2020, before going to court to be sentenced over a protest. (Photo: AFP/Anthony Wallace)
On Monday, police cited the law to make arrests over a small unofficial graduation rally last month at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where masked students waved banners and chanted slogans that included, "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times".
Li Kwai-wah, a senior officer in Hong Kong's new national security unit, told reporters that three had been arrested for unlawful assembly and "inciting secession", a crime under the law.
Five others were also arrested for unlawful assembly, added Li, who is among a group of senior Hong Kong and Chinese officials that were earlier sanctioned by the United States.
Also in November, pro-democracy lawmakers resigned en masse from Hong Kong's Legislative Council after the disqualification of four of their colleagues.
WASHINGTON: The House of Representatives voted on Monday (Dec 7) to welcome Hong Kong residents to live temporarily in the United States, vowing to be a beacon for rights as China clamps down in the territory.
The House moved by consensus to issue so-called Temporary Protected Status for five years to Hong Kong residents, meaning that people from the financial hub will have the right to work in the United States and will not be subject to deportation.
The initiative must still be approved by the Senate, but it enjoys support across party lines - unlike a previous bid by Democrats to extend the status to Venezuelans that was effectively blocked by President Donald Trump and his Republican Party.
Representative Tom Malinowski, a Democrat who sponsored the Hong Kong bill, said the decision to "self-confidently open our doors" was more powerful than moving to "slap a few sanctions" on Chinese officials, as the State Department again did Monday.
"The best way to win against a dictatorship is to pit the strength of our system against the weakness of theirs, to hold up the glaring contrast between our free, open and self-confident democracy against the weakness of the oppressive, closed and fearful system that the communist party has imposed on the Chinese people, including now in Hong Kong," Malinwowski said on the House floor.
"It's actually much more than a humanitarian gesture - it's one of the best ways to deter China from crushing Hong Kong," he added.
China in June imposed a tough new security law that criminalises dissent in Hong Kong. Since then, authorities have arrested and jailed young activists who expressed their views and disqualified pro-democracy lawmakers in the city's legislature.
In recent months, former colonial power Britain has offered a pathway for Hong Kong residents to become citizens and Canada has made immigration easier.
If the Senate approves, Hong Kong would be the only wealthy place to enjoy Temporary Protected Status, which has been issued by Congress or the White House to protect hundreds of thousands of people from war-ravaged nations such as Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
The Trump administration has moved to end the status for people from El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal and Sudan, leading to legal challenges and accusations that the outgoing president cares more about keeping out non-white immigrants than ensuring they are out of harm's way.
