UK citizen becomes world's first person to receive AstraZeneca vaccine

An 82-year-old UK citizen Brian Pinker has become the first person in the world to be administered the coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and the AstraZeneca pharmaceutical company.

London:UK citizen Brian Pinker, 82, became the first person in the world to be administered the coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and the AstraZeneca pharmaceutical company, the UK National Health Service (NHS) in England said on Monday.

The United Kingdom approved the use of AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine last week.

The mass vaccination campaign began on Monday. "82-year-old Brian Pinker became the first person in the world to receive the new Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine this morning at Oxford University Hospital," NHS England said on Twitter.

In a press release, the NHS said that Pinker suffered kidney disease for years and was underway with dialysis treatment. Pinker, who described himself as "Oxford-born and bred," as quoted in the press release, said that the vaccination gave him peace of mind.

"The NHS is the first health service in the world to deliver the life-saving Oxford AstraZeneca jab, which is easier to transport and store than the Pfizer jab," NHS England said.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has shown an average efficacy of 70.4 per cent in clinical trials.

It is a vaccine built on a chimpanzee adenovirus. In December, AstraZeneca teamed up with Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute, whose Sputnik V vaccine builds on a human adenovirus and has shown much higher efficacy during clinical tests, 91.4 per cent, to develop a joint version.

Pfizer's vaccine, on the other hand, is based on genetic material called mRNA, which needs extreme cold temperatures in order not to collapse. As a result, the vaccine should be stored and transported at least -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit).

ANI/Sputnik