The United Kingdom began rolling out the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, inoculating the first people in the world outside clinical trials. The incredibly significant moment could well be remembered as a crucial historical event, but Martin Kenyon, a 91-year-old British man who received his first dose Tuesday, wasn't too bothered by the whole thing.
Stopped on the street outside a London hospital by a CNN crew, Kenyon revealed that he had indeed just been vaccinated and matter-of-factly stated that he simply called up the hospital, asked if they were injecting folks, and made an appointment. It was over and done with soon after, and Kenyon described the process as quick and painless.
When asked how he felt about being one of the first people in the world to receive the vaccine, he said he doesn't think he feels "about it at all, except that I hope I'm not going to have the bloody bug now."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Following the quick television spot, Kenyon headed home to tell his family, who weren't aware of his spur-of-the-moment decision, the news. Watch the full clip below. Tim O'Donnell
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
