LONDON — British actor Sir Ian McKellen said Wednesday that he felt “euphoric” after getting the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the United Kingdom.
He got his first of two vaccine doses at Queen Mary’s University Hospital in London, BBC News reported Thursday.
“I feel very lucky to have had the vaccine,” the 81-year-old actor said Thursday in a Twitter post. “I would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone.”
I feel very lucky to have had the vaccine. I would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone. https://t.co/gBLRR0OeJc
— Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) December 17, 2020
Officials with the U.K.’s National Health Service on Wednesday shared images on social media of McKellen getting his vaccination.
“I really hope that, as more people get vaccinated, we will move further along the path to a more normal way of life,” he said, according to NHS.
“It’s a very special day, I feel euphoric. I would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone. I feel very lucky to have had the vaccine.”
— NHS London (@NHSEnglandLDN) December 16, 2020
It’s a thumbs up from Sir @IanMckellen who received the first dose of his #CovidVaccine today 👍https://t.co/W6JtOiwciR pic.twitter.com/otfqkj7I9J
'I really hope that, as more people get vaccinated, we will move further along the path back to a more normal way of life.'
— NHS England and NHS Improvement (@NHSEngland) December 16, 2020
⁰Sir @IanMcKellen joins the thousands of people who have now safely received the first dose of the #CovidVaccine. https://t.co/1e3nCAUFcB pic.twitter.com/FFW6jrKqEg
Nearly 140,000 people have gotten the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the U.K. since regulators authorized emergency use of the drug earlier this month, Reuters reported. Health officials are prioritizing vaccinating healthcare workers, people over 80 years old and people living in care homes first, according to Reuters and BBC News.
The U.K. was the first western country to begin vaccinating people against COVID-19. Regulators in Canada and the U.S. have since followed suit, approving the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine last week.
The U.K. has the seventh-most COVID-19 cases of any country in the world with more than 1.9 million cases confirmed since the start of the pandemic, according to a count from Johns Hopkins University. Over 65,600 people have died of the viral infection across the U.K., giving the country the sixth-highest number of COVID-19-related deaths worldwide.
Cox Media Group
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