Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip are among the first receivers of the COVID-19 vaccine. (Image via USA Today)

Queen Elizabeth prioritized for COVID-19 vaccine

In upcoming weeks, Queen Elizabeth II is scheduled to be among the first to receive the vaccine for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from Pfizer-BioNtech. The announcement came after the British Government released emergency use authorization (EUA) and after the official launching of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine next week.

The Daily Mail reported on Sunday that the 94-year-old Queen Elizabeth II and his 99-year-old husband, Prince Phillip, are among the first vaccine receivers due to their old age. Despite their royalty status. Furthermore, the Daily Mail stated that they will not receive special treatment. As the Queen and the Prince are willing to receive, the British Government hipe that the British people will follow suit, amid the concerns of vaccine rejection by the anti-vaxxers. Reported by the AFP, Buckingham Palace has not responded to the rumour.

Previously on Wednesday, Great Britain agreed to give Pfizer-BioNtech's COVID-19 vaccine a EUA for people categorized according to their age and vulnerability toward the COVID-19 infection. Therefore, Great Britain became the first country in the world to pass the COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine by Pfizer-BioNtech claimed to have an efficacy rate of 95%.

The elderly and their caretakers are among the first to receive the vaccine, followed by people aged 80 & older, and medical teams & officials. The Daily Mirror also stated that some British public figures had also agreed to receive the vaccine earlier in a campaign to invite the people to get vaccinated. In total, Great Britain had ordered 40 million dosages, and starting next week, Great Britain will receive 800,000 for the early wave.

So far, the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine had been tested on some 43,500 people in six countries and proved to prevent COVID-19, especially for the elderly. Besides Pfizer-BioNtech, the British Government might pass another vaccine developed by AstraZeneca-Oxford University.

Source: https://bit.ly/37FSwLy