04 Jan 2021
Britain began vaccinating its population with Oxford University and AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 shot on Monday in a world first, as a new surge of cases threatened to overwhelm hospitals.
Britain touted a scientific “triumph” that puts it at the vanguard of the West as dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, became the first person to get the Oxford/AstraZeneca shot outside of a trial.
As major powers eye the benefits of being first out of the pandemic, Britain is rushing to vaccinate its population faster than the United States and the rest of Europe, though Russia and China have been inoculating their citizens for months.