Queen Elizabeth To Receive Dose Early As UK Prepares To Roll Out COVID-19 Vaccine

London: The 94-year-old Queen Elizabeth and 99-year-old Prince Philip will be among the first to be administered COVID-19 vaccine as the UK is set to roll out the vaccination programme from Tuesday.

Once they have got their shot, within a week or two, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are likely to let it be known they have had the vaccine, British media reported on Sunday.

The first groups among the population to be administered the vaccine are people above the age of 80 and care home workers. The Queen and Prince Philip qualify straightaway, as both are above 90.

The UK, which has ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, has already received the first batch of 800,000 doses from Belgium, reported Hindustan Times. Boris Johnson’s government has a target to vaccinate 20 million people with two doses, 21 days apart.

The vaccine will initially be given from 50 hospitals.

In what is the biggest mass vaccination programme in UK, leading public figures like Queen Elizabeth taking the vaccine will help overcome anxieties of the general public, many of whom are skeptical about its efficacy.