Margaret Keenan, the first person in the West to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, called the experience a 'whirlwind', and urged people to get the shot
ACOB KING/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
- The first person in the West to get a COVID-19 vaccine urged others to get the shot too.
- Margaret Keenan, who received Pfizer's vaccine in England on Tuesday morning, called the experience a "whirlwind."
- The FDA is meeting to review Pfizer's vaccine for emergency use on Thursday, the day after Canada authorized the shot.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Margaret Keenan, the first person in the West to get a COVID-19 vaccine, called the experience a "whirlwind" and said other people should get it too.
Keenan, a grandmother of four who turns 91 next week, got Pfizer and BioNTech's shot at University Hospital in the English city of Coventry Tuesday morning.
"I would urge everybody to get their vaccine as and when they are asked to do so," she said in a statement shared by the NHS. Experts fear anti-vaccination concerns could slow the end of the pandemic.
The UK became the first country in the West to both approve and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. The US hasn't yet made a decision on its authorization.
Keenan described Tuesday as "a massive day," and said "everything hasn't really sunk in yet."
"I feel great," she added. Keenan had previously called the shot "the best early birthday present I could wish for."
She thanked the NHS staff and said she looked forward to spending time with her family.
The FDA is meeting Thursday to review Pfizer's vaccine for emergency use, and the first shots could be given out as early as Friday, though an FDA advisor said there could be delays to distribution.
Canada approved the shot on Wednesday. When asked how Canada's health department "beat the FDA" to approval, the country's health advisor said "we're not in a race against any other regulator."
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/2KbuTm0
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