Margaret Keenan, the first vaccine patient, is on many of the world's front pages
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Britain on Tuesday became the first country in the world to roll out a clinically-approved Covid-19 vaccine.
Grandmother Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, was the first person to receive the jab and said it was the "best early birthday present".
But the news was received across the globe with a mixture of jealousy and excitement.
Here’s how some of the world’s newspapers reacted.
‘Britain First’, says Queen’s tattoo
Like many newspapers, the Austrian Der Standard has Mrs Keenan on its front page, calling her "Margaret I", and paying tribute to the historic moment with the headline: "Applaus für Margaret I".
Pravda, the Slovakian newspaper, carries a photograph of Mrs Keenan with the headline: "The British are on fire. Grandma is looking forward to her grandchildren":
Der Standard (Austria) and Pravda (Slovakia)
Le Temps, the Swiss daily, features on its front page a cartoon of The Queen receiving the vaccine.
But it has added a dig at British unilateralism – and possibly at No 10’s boasting about leading the world in giving out the jab – by appearing to give Her Majesty a "Britain First" tattoo:
Credit: Le Temps
Philippines celebrates nurse who gave first jab
In the Philippines, The Philippine Star is one of a couple of national newspapers to celebrate that the nurse administering the first vaccine was of Filipino descent. May Parsons is photographed giving the vaccine to Mrs Keenan on their front pages:
Credit: The Philippine Star and Philippine Daily Inquirer
El País, a leading Spanish newspaper, says that Britain had "launched the vaccine challenge in Europe". It says that "the European Union has conceded with a poorly concealed resentment the efforts of Boris Johnson" to get the vaccine ready.
The newspaper also spoke to Kay Gallwey, an 84-year-old painter, who received the vaccine but the paper says she "regretted that she did not have more than a couple of business cards with her to be able to distribute them among the handful of journalists determined to turn her into a little star".
The paper adds: "The way in which the elderly patients demonstrated a certainty in the remedy of science without any hint of suspicion was striking."
Credit: El País
Spain’s ABC also puts Mrs Keenan on the front, announcing that "5,000 British already have their rare vaccine".
But the paper warns that controversy is looming over the plans to make people carry a proof-of-vaccine card which it criticises for being a "criterion for employment".
The West Australian was one of few Australian newspapers to significantly cover the news on its front page, saying simply: "Hooray for Patient A":
Spain's ABC and The West Australian
In fact, Mrs Keenan was on the front of many newspapers all over the world, including France’s Le Figaro, Germany’s Rheinische Post, The Hindustan Times, The Korea Times, and Ukraine’s Den:
The Hindustan Times, The Korea Times and Den
Europe’s politicians are a bit sniffy
Some of our closest neighbours were not blown over with excitement. In fact a few European politicians mocked Britain for celebrating its status as the first to offer the vaccine.
After Boris Johnson applauded the efforts of British scientists, Alexander de Croo, Belgium’s Prime Minister, hit back.
Mr De Croo tweeted an image of an EU flag and wrote “Made in Europe”, referring to the Belgian manufacturing origins of the first tranche of Pfizer vaccine doses rolled out in the UK.
Made in Europe 🇪🇺 https://t.co/jQopbynrZk
— Alexander De Croo (@alexanderdecroo) December 8, 2020
Clement Beaune, France’s Europe minister, also made a dig at the UK, tweeting: “You don’t base a strategy on just one vaccine. Europe has contracts for at least 6 vaccines. It’s not just a sprint, it’s a marathon.”
Read more: Europeans mock Britain for celebrating vaccine roll-out
How The Telegraph reported it
The Telegraph covered the momentous day on the front page but with a note of caution from Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s chief scientific adviser, that Britons may have to wear face masks for another year.
The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph:
'Mask for a year despite vaccine'#coronavirus #COVID19 https://t.co/oiqQHMJeVf#tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/IO2nvcrSqb
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) December 8, 2020
Inside the paper, Judith Woods says the vaccine was an “astonishing milestone".
She writes: “A landmark moment. A watershed. A turning point in the war against an unseen enemy that has taken a wrecking ball to our way of life and killed more than 61,000 people in these isles. Tuesday, dubbed V-Day, marked a breakthrough in our pushback against coronavirus.”
Read more: Take it like a nan: Older generation shows the way as a jab makes history
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