The first patient in the world receives a Covid-19 vaccine.
Today, a Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was given to a patient outside a clinical trial for the first time, resulting in a jubilant scene of clapping nurses, and causing Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock to shed a tear on live TV. It is an emotional day, as grandmother-of-four Margaret Keenan from Coventry, aged 90, has become the first person in the world to receive the long-awaited jab, administered by nurse May Parsons. Margaret said that being first was “the best early birthday present I could wish for” (ahead of her 91st birthday next week,) as it will mean she can spend time with her family and friends in the new year, “after being on my own for most of the year.” She added, “My advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it. If I can do it….so can you”
But, will we do it? All this excited positive talk has also sparked a fear, resulting in anti-vaxx narratives across social media accounts this morning. Conspiracy theorists emerge, almost as if to give comfort to those who are scared by needles, or have a sense of losing control. Theories circulate regarding Covid-19 trying to convince people that a vaccine is dangerous, with posts that say stuff like ‘Bill Gates puts a micro-chip in vaccinations to control people’s thoughts.’ It’s an emotive debate.
As light relief, one funny thread on Twitter retorted, “I wonder how Bill Gates is going to spend his first day, in control of Margaret Keenan, 90, from Coventry?”
A reply ponders that perhaps we should consider that these anti-vaxx theorists are the people “most in need of Bill Gates putting a microchip in their vaccination to control their thoughts.”
Another tweet, that tickled my sense of humour, suggests, just for a laugh, “If I were Margaret, I’d be saying things like “What’s that Bill? You want me to do what? Ok, if you think it’s for the best”.
I’m of the opinion that I’d rather listen to scientists with years of vaccine research experience versus an anti-vaxxer with her years of Twitter research. But that’s just me.
D is more of a sceptic: “Boris Johnson may “hear the drumming hooves of the cavalry coming over the brow of the hill.” But I can also hear the drumming hooves of the apocalypse horses.”
He’s not alone in his uncertainty. A film called ‘Plandemic,’ featuring a discredited scientist Judy Mikovits, wove together several anti-vaccination and far right conspiracy theories to claim that a group of elites was using Covid-19, and its vaccine, to make a profit and control people. It spread around the world with alarming speed, reaching 8 million people on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in just over a week.
But the vaccine is the world’s new hope. The hope to rebooting the economy, to resuscitating the global travel industry, and to hugs. What happens if not enough people get vaccinated, and that hope becomes an impossible dream?
Emotion about this historic vaccine is also muted in mood amongst the pro-vaxxers. The vaccine may be the only way to get back to normal life, but it’s not going to happen overnight. There are still many more months of disruption ahead, and there are concerns that people’s behavior over Christmas will make matters worse before they can get better. To act like it’s ‘all over’ just because a couple hundred people have received the vaccine is incredibly dangerous. Until the majority of vulnerable and elderly people receive the vaccine, we must continue to follow the rules and act with caution, and in the Cayman Islands that means upholding 15-day quarantine rule.
The UK could have up to four million vaccine doses by the end of December, NHS providers have said. A few of the UK’s December batch will be sent to the Cayman Islands, in recognition that we are a British Overseas Territory. It is unclear how many doses we will receive, but it is likely to be reserved for healthcare workers and the elderly in the first instance. Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell has said that while Cayman will not mandate that people here take the shot once it is available, government will be promoting the vaccine heavily when it has enough doses. He said that the aim would then be to require all visitors to get vaccinated before they come to Cayman, which, with the help of antigen testing, will enable the country to begin reopening the tourism sector. I feel another emotive debate coming on when the tourists learn of this new requirement.
Like most people, I felt a sense of relief this morning, to see the first patient be given the dose of a vaccine we’ve been wishing for since March. That video of May administering Keenan the vaccine will go down in history – and being alive to witness this monumental moment feels like a great gift after such a challenging year. For the first time, there is real hope that 2021 will be a better year.
