Well, she'll go down in history.

She's become the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer vaccine against Cove in 19 outside trial conditions.

Thes pictures, air coming into us live Now I beg your pardon were coming into us.

Now This is actually about 25.

30 minutes ago as she took that first injection, she's at the University Hospital in Coventry.

That's in the English Midlands.

The British prime minister, Boris Johnson's, called this a huge step forward in the fight against co vid 19.

It has led to the deaths of more than 60,000 people across the UK, and the majority of those are the elderly.

Which is why the priority is very much focused on those elder citizens in the United Kingdom.

Uh, quite a moment.

A round of applause.

Margaret takes the jab on bond.

That is the first of two.

Of course, you will have toe have a second vaccination in three weeks time.

Our health correspondent, Catherine Burns, has the UK perspective.

She is outside University Hospital in Coventry.

The government's calling it VE Day, and it is the biggest vaccine roll out in our history.

So here in Coventry is one of 70 hospitals across the UK They're going to start injecting the first patients today.

Now, we've ordered about 40 million doses of this.

We don't have that yet.

Right now, we're looking at about 800,000, and that's going to go up to about four million before Christmas.

So not everyone that needs this injection is going to get it immediately.

They're going to start off in the hospitals, for example, with in patients who are already in hospital about to go home or people who are coming in for tests, they'll also invite some care home staff in on maybe some other vulnerable over eighties.

And then if there's any left of your over at the end of each day, they will give those to the most vulnerable front line NHS staff, the ones who would be at the most risk of getting sick if they got this.

Yeah, there we are.

Well, our reporter, Paul Hawkins is with me now.

I mean, this is an initial 800,000 batches, and it's the first batch.

So the elderly get it?

Yeah.

800,000 initially goes to the elderly it goes to those with underlying health conditions, and then it's gradually rolled out across the U.

K.

40 million doses in total, the UK government has ordered.

So when you do the masses 20 million people roughly around the third of the UK population.

A zoo.

You mentioned everyone who gets this'll vaccine.

They get two doses three weeks apart.

The immunity begins after you've had the first dose, and then it builds to maximum unity seven days after the second jab.

So s so.

That's kind of how it works.

Side effects there.

Miles, 95% effective is not yet long known how long the immunity lasts.

That's quite key.

And we don't know whether it stops people from actually passing on the virus.

Yeah, because this is the first time in the world that has been rolled out.

Yeah, it's interesting.

Seeing it actually happening after all this time is well, isn't it?

I suppose we've got to look at the the scale in which this could be opened up quickly because as a vaccine, Paul, it's held at very low temperatures.

They have to administer it in hospitals rather than a doctor taking off in his bag and carrying it around the town Something yeah, minus 70 eso At the moment it's arrived in refrigerated, uh, huge refrigerators, effectively big containers shipped into the hospitals.

That's where it's gonna be started.

70 hospital hubs across the country and then Azaz.

They try to work out the logistics of transporting that virus at a really low temperature.

It will get rolled out in GP surgeries in care homes.

We're talking about 30,000 people being recruited by the NHS over over the coming months.

Sports stadiums, conference centers as well.

Being used is vaccination hub.

So at the moment they're going for targeting the over fifties.

And then well into next year we'll start seeing Phase two, which is under fifties Paul.

That's really helpful.

Thank you very much for that.

I'm joined now by Professor Philip Clarke, who is director of the Health Economics Research Center at the University of Oxford, and his teams have been working on a framework really on how to allocate the vaccine itself, as you say joins me from Oxford.

Now, Philip, thanks very much indeed for your time.

We've just seen Margaret Keane in the very first to receive the vaccine on DNA.

Not surprisingly, it's targeted initially at the at the oldest, and the ones we see is the most vulnerable.

Yes, yes, David The idea.

I think off the vaccination strategy in the UK is to keep it simple and basically start off with age with the oldest, because people's risk off getting covert and also perhaps dying of covert doubles about every five years.

So if you start with someone like Margaret is in the nineties, you're likely to reduce the mortality promised disease in the most rapid way.

Yeah, and it's an overwhelming increase, isn't it?

As the as the years go by, if you like.

Nonetheless, it might not be the only approach.

And I think would you perhaps see the idea of vaccinating ALS the maybe the health service staff a Zamora appropriate first step?

Well, different countries air trying different strategies.

Certainly in the UK, health care workers are getting ah, high priority there in the next group and as well, a social care workers that makes a lot of sense, both to protect them but also potentially to protect patients.

If if it's able to reduce transmission, I suppose the question is what attention What are other countries doing?

There is a variety of strategies here.

So, for example, Russia has started vaccinating with its Sputnik vaccine, and it's vaccinating healthcare workers and teachers.

So I do think perhaps there needs to be a discussion in all countries about where these occupations that have a lot of contact with the public beating alongside healthcare.

Yeah, I mean, obviously it's voluntary, and Margaret was very ready to be vaccinated there.

But we did hear earlier Philip from Los Angeles from health care experts saying that actually mawr than half of health care workers, they're still feel uncomfortable about this vaccine on.

That's an issue of the speed again with which it's being processed.

Well, there's certainly Bean rigorous testing, both of all of the vaccines, in terms of both its efficacy and safety.

And, of course, it's now being approved by regulators.

I suppose also, though these have been developed at speed.

But there is, of course, enormous benefit.

I mean to the individual, but to the entire society from getting vaccinations right up, because it's the one sure way to actually bring about, you know, reduction in covert cases on and going back to a sort of normal worlds that we were in this time last year and hopefully we'll return to by this time next year.

Well, you make a very good point, don't you?

Just watching one lady being vaccinated is it's a symbol, really.

Of what?

An extraordinarily challenging nine months at least Maybe a full year we've bean through.

I mean, this is a big day, isn't it?

Absolutely.

And I think it's It is a vaccination is something where, by taking a vaccine, one is benefiting everybody in the society.

So Margaret, by taking a bit of vaccine, is actually benefiting me because with an infectious disease, it reduces my chance of getting a vaccine.