MANILA – A Filipina nurse in the United Kingdom was the first person to administer the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine to 90-year old Margaret Keenan, the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus inoculation after its clinical approval in the UK.
“It’s a huge honor to be the first person in the country to deliver a Covid-19 jab to a patient. I’m just glad that I’m able to play a part in this historic day,” National Health Service (NHS) nurse May Parsons said on Tuesday.
“The last few months have been tough for all of us working in the NHS, but now it feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel,” she added.
Parsons, a Filipino migrant, has worked in the NHS for the past 24 years.
According to the NHS, she had been at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire since 2003.
Parsons delivered the vaccine to Keenan at a local hospital in Coventry.
UK Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce described the historic shot as a “fantastic” moment.
“Great to see that the vaccine is administered by Nurse May Parsons from the Philippines – one of the many thousands of Filipino health care workers making such an enormous contribution to the NHS,” Pruce said in a tweet.
In a statement posted through the NHS, Keenan thanked Parsons and the rest of its staff for looking after her.
“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,” she said.
“I can’t thank May and the NHS staff enough who have looked after me tremendously, and my advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it – if I can have it at 90, then you can have it too!”
The UK has secured 40 million doses of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine after clinical trials showed it provided about 94 percent efficacy against SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing Covid-19.