Blue T-shirt (size medium) with a graphic of a penguin standing in the snow and reading ‘Merry Christmas’, made by Gildan, worn by Margaret Keenan for her first and the first UK Pfizer BioNTech vaccination for COVID-19, at University Hospital Coventry, England, 8 December 2020

'It's the best early birthday present I could have asked for'- Margaret Keenan

The UK COVID-19 vaccination programme started on 8 December 2020 with Matron May Parsons, administering then 90 year old Margaret Keenan’s first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Margaret wore this t-shirt during her vaccine. With its penguin design, it was a t-shirt sold by University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire charity to raise funds for their hospitals and staff. After photographs of Margaret and May were viewed across the world, sales of the t-shirt tripled. An initial run of 500 shirts sold out, as did subsequent restocks of another 850, and a further 2,500 were made to meet demand.

Margaret received her second dose of the vaccine from May three weeks later. Together, they got their booster jabs in September 2021.

The COVID-19 vaccine created by Pfizer in collaboration with BioNTech was developed, tested and approved in less than a year. It works by introducing into the body a messenger RNA (mRNA) sequence that contains the genetic instructions for the vaccinated person’s own cells to produce the vaccine antigens and generate an immune response – priming the body for an infection from COVID-19. It is the first vaccine using mRNA technology approved for human use. The vaccine was approved in the UK by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on 2nd December 2020 – becoming the first COVID-19 vaccine approved for general use.

The roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine in the United Kingdom is based on priority groups. In December 2020, COVID-19 vaccines were first offered to residents in care homes for older adults and their carers, people aged over 80, and frontline health and social care workers. The remaining population is offered the vaccine according to age and existing health conditions that make them more susceptible to COVID-19. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advise on the priority list and the length between doses (between 3 and twelve weeks).