AP: ‘Route out’ of pandemic: U.K. gives 1st COVID-19 vaccine doses
“A retired British shop clerk received the first shot in the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program Tuesday, signaling the start of a global immunization effort intended to offer a route out of a pandemic that has killed 1.5 million. Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, got the shot at 6:31 a.m. on what public health officials have dubbed ‘V-Day’…” (Kirka, 12/8).

POLITICO: First patient in world receives Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine
“…According to a press release by the National Health Service (NHS) England, Keenan was vaccinated by nurse May Parsons at 6.31 a.m. at her local hospital in Coventry, kicking off the U.K.’s largest-ever vaccination program. The move came after the U.K. last week became the first country in the Western world to authorize a coronavirus vaccine. Speaking on Times Radio Breakfast Tuesday morning, U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock doubled down on his earlier comments that Brexit allowed Britain to get the vaccine faster than the E.U…” (Gehrke, 12/8).

Additional coverage of the U.K.’s vaccination campaign is available from BBC News, The Hill, USA TODAY, and Washington Post.