Well, what can I say?. Anything better than to talk about what has happened here in Coventry today?!.

In less than a year since the first identified infection of human beings with Covid-19 , the human brains and the human will power has produced and delivered the first ever vaccine against Covid-19. Yes, and it is true that today Tuesday the 8th. of December 2020, the whole world has witnessed the first person vaccinated – out of research work and the experimental trials- against this very naughty and careless aggressive virus in perhaps the whole human history with a lot of respect to the previous pandemics including that in 1918-1920 which is known as the Spanish flue. Today at the University Hospital in Coventry, a 90 years lady named Margaret Keenan was the one who received the first vaccine.

Margaret, who turns 91 next week, is a former jewellery shop assistant who only retired four years ago. Margaret who is originally from Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, who has lived in Coventry for over sixty years, will receive a booster jab(second dose) in 21 days to ensure she has the best chance of being protected against the virus. I also must mention May Parson, who is the UH nurse who delivered the first vaccine this early morning at 06:31. May is 24 years old, and she is originally from Philippines, and has worked in the NHS for the last 24 years. She has been at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire since 2003.

The life-saving vaccine is typically delivered by a simple injection in the shoulder but there is a complex logistical challenge to deliver from the manufacturers to patients. It needs to be stored at -70C before being thawed out and can only be moved four times within that cold chain ahead of use.

At the end of this quick article, I had two quick questions in my mind: why those above the age of 80 were chosen to be injected (vaccinated) first, and the second question: why out of many famous and internationally known cities in UK such as Oxford, Cambridge, London, or Edinburgh; Coventry was chosen to be the first city in UK to host the first person injected in the world?. I had the answer after a light hearted chat with my dear nurse friends who very quickly told me that: we chose those above 80 to be the “guinea pig” for this new vaccine simply because if anything goes wrong, no one would bother that much!!. For the second question about Coventry, they told me jokingly that, if a disaster happens, the world will never blame Coventry, but they will for sure blame other big cities !!. Enjoy watching the thrill up to its end, which we don’t know when or how… we can only guess!!.