Know the first Odia to get COVID-19 vaccine jab in UK

Bhubaneswar/London: A medical practitioner working in the United Kingdom became the first Odia to receive the COVID-19 vaccine that was rolled out in the country by Pfizer yesterday.

With this, UK became the first country to begin mass vaccination.

Dr Sailesh Mishra received the vaccine shot last evening in the hospital where he is working.

“I am working in a hospital which is one of the 51 centres where the vaccine is rolled out and yesterday I received my COVID-19 vaccination. I received it in the evening. So, probably I am among the first Odias to get this vaccine,” an elated Sailesh said.

He further said that he got emotional when he entered the room to receive the shot.

“I was pretty emotional as my mother is in India and I haven’t been able to see her. I used to visit her once in 2-3 months to check on her health condition. I haven’t visited her in the last 9 months as I may pose a threat to her. This vaccine will be a gamechanger. This is my tribute to the healthcare professionals and scientists who have sacrificed a lot to bring out this vaccine,” the health consultant said.

We may not see another pandemic in our lifetime. I am hoping that normalcy will return soon and vaccine will be available in India also so that lives could be saved, he added.

The anesthesiologist working in NHS UK is an alumnus of MKCG, Berhampur and has also studied at The Royal College of Anaesthesists.

Worth mentioning, a 90-year-old woman Margaret Keenan became the oldest person to have received the vaccination as part of the mass vaccination programme in Britain. Around 800,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will be dispensed in the coming weeks and up to four million more are expected by the end of the month.

People over 80s and healthcare professionals are among the firsts to receive the injection.