(Photo : Photo by Jacob King - Pool / Getty Images)
COVENTRY, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 08: "Bill" William Shakespeare, 81, receives the Pfizer/BioNTech covid-19 vaccine at University Hospital at the start of the largest ever immunisation programme in the UK's history on December 8, 2020 in Coventry, United Kingdom. More than 50 hospitals across England were designated as covid-19 vaccine hubs, the first stage of what will be a lengthy vaccination campaign. NHS staff, over-80s, and care home residents will be among the first to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which recently received emergency approval from the country's health authorities.
The world has been staged on Tuesday, especially for the British people, but William Shakespeare was not content to be a mere player.
As Britons rolled up their sleeves for the beginning of a coronavirus vaccine campaign, he was the second to get a shot.
Not the guy from Stratford-on-Avon but William Shakespeare of Warwickshire, and he did not shy away from his duty.
The 81-year-old William Shakespeare shared with a smile shortly after being vaccinated at University Hospital Coventry located in Central England, that the shot could make a difference in individuals' lives from now on.
The location where he got vaccinated was just 20 miles north of where Shakespeare, the playwright, and poet, was born.
According to Washington Post, as one of the first recipients of the vaccine and bearing such a famous name, a fact confirmed by the NHS or the National Health Services, offered a chance for some levity on the same day that Britain started the daunting task of setting the most extensive vaccination campaign in its history.
A news agency had the headline, ' Shakespeare gets COVID vaccine,' but some, instead of 'The Taming of the Shrew,' they wrote 'The Taming of the Flu,' and 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona' quickly switched to 'The Gentlemen of Corona.'
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Puns flooded the internet with one Twitter user asking if the first Briton to get the shot was Patient 1A, would William Shakespeare be 2B or not 2B?
The National Theater also offered a tweet. British theaters also joined in the fun and made a short dialogue describing the incident in a theatrical way. The theater made a short script on how "Shakespeare" was chosen to get the shot.
After suffering a stroke, the 81-year-old man has stayed in the hospital in Coventry for several weeks.
According to his niece Emily Shakespeare, after his vaccination on Tuesday, he felt a little frail and took a nap in the afternoon, BBC News reported.
In a telephone interview with Ms. Shakespeare, she said that regarding her uncle's first injection, he was delighted with it, and he is dying to come home.
Based on a report, worldwide, countless families have been unable to visit relatives in nursing homes or hospitals during the global health crisis, causing many patients to suffer from depression, atrophy, and loneliness. Others even died alone, and their families never had a chance to say goodbye.
According to his niece, Mr. Shakespeare's vaccination brought heartwarming news for Britons, especially his family, as he was already fed up with being in the hospital. But today, she was just proud that her uncle led the way, The New York Times reported.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary of Britain, appeared to shed some tears as he lauded Mr. Shakespear and other people of Britain, lining up to be vaccinated in times like this.
The pandemic resulted in the death of not less than 60,000 individuals in the United Kingdom.
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