EMOTIONS

VIRUS was having an emotional outburst.

It was a scene from — 3 IDIOTS.

Viru Sahastrabudhhe: Who was the first man to step on the moon?

Students: Neil Armstrong sir!

Viru Sahastrabudhhe: Obviously its Neil Armstrong, we all know it..but who was the second man?

Don’t waste ur time, its not important! Nobody remembers the man who ever came second!

He’s right. Nobody remembers the man who ever came second.

My story is inspired by this scene

THERE IS NOTHING EITHER GOOD OR BAD BUT THINKING MAKES IT SO.

Hamlet -Act ll scene 2

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

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‘William Shakespeare sat thinking with crossed emotions in Warwickshire England

‘’WHY NOT ME’’

‘’If I was chosen to be the first I would have made history’’

He was very happy but he was also sad as this thought may have crossed his mind.

William Shakespeare was thinking as miles away in Coventry emotions were stirring up in Maggie’s head.

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‘’The best feelings is watching things finally fall into place after watching them fall apart for so long’’

This was the emotions running through the sharp and alert brain of the almost 91-year-old grandmother.

She was 90 and would be 91 next week.

She was expecting a birthday present.

Didn’t in her wildest dream expect a present of this magnitude.

A present which would determine the future of ‘million-plus’ emotionally and expectingly waiting throngs of global humanity.

A present which had emotionally and tirelessly been worked upon by millions of top brains all over the globe over the whole year contributing in their small way towards the final making of this gift.

It was a race against the clock.

The best birthday present delivered early.

An emotional present for the future.

It was 6.31 am GMT on this very cold Tuesday morning of 8th December 2020 in Coventry UK

As she slipped off part of the open grey sweater at the shoulder of her arm the prick on her left arm brought tears to her eyes.

They were tears not for the visual of Matron Mary Parson plunging the loose end of the syringe emoting this moment only through her body language (no other part of the face or eyes could be seen as it was covered in a mask and glasses)

They were tears not for the effect of the shiny pointed steel needle entering her flabby epidermis traversing through the dermis, the subcutaneous fat layer and the chilled spurt of liquid from the tip of the hypodermic needle entering her bloodstream.

They were tears of EMOTIONS.

MIXED EMOTIONS

HAPPY MIXED EMOTIONS !!

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Sometime in late 2019.

The world was unaware of this huge dragon which had been given birth and was in its initial phases of spread.

The spread would see this dragon raise its head and spew out infection-causing death in all parts of the globe.

Not exactly knowing where it started from the data provided assessed that several infected people had visited Hunan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan.

Fingers pointed to the bat.

The index case or ‘patient zero’ was in 30°37′11″N 114°15′28″E in layman terms Wuhan, Hubei. China.

Few months passed with all involved in public health refusing to expose this or warn the world in the whole of the coming repercussions.

The World Health Organisation were also tight-lipped.

Official publications from the WHO reported the earliest onset of symptoms as 8 December 2019.

It was exactly a year back to this date.

Initial Chinese health officials classified it as deathly the best due to pneumonia.

The virus was spreading like a wildfire worldwide

On 30 January, the WHO declared the coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

By this time, the outbreak spread by a factor of 100 to 200 times.

The virus can spread from an infected person's nose and mouth as he breathes coughs, sneezes, sings or speaks. Other people are infected if the virus gets into their mouth, nose or eyes.

Symptoms were fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell; sometimes no symptoms at all

The virus was killing people especially the elderly who were in its grip.

On 11th February 2020, the Big Bad Boy was given a name.

It was a shortened form for Coronavirus disease 2019

He was named "COVID-19"

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The worldwide effort was on in the search of a vaccine which was by various private organisations and government-backed research funding.

Progress of Different angles of study culminated in different levels of hurdles being overcome

However, lack of mass trials and the losing battle against the virus death toll was disheartening.

There was not enough time.

Amidst all the clinical activity happening worldwide In the western world one beam of light was finally shining.

The shots use a new technology called mRNA, which carries genetic instructions to cells, and must be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius, or minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit, to maintain their integrity. Once thawed, the vaccine can be used within five days if it is kept at 2-8 degrees Celsius,

Following rigorous clinical trials involving thousands of people and extensive analysis of the vaccine’s safety, quality and effectiveness by experts from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine had been authorised for use in the UK.

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The UK Health Minister and Prime Minister had announced to the country and the world that the UK would first start vaccinating its citizens with the Pfizer vaccine on 8th December 2020

The route and UK destination would be a closely guarded secret.

The lists were drawn.

The first person to receive the vaccine was selected.

The press were now kept in confidence and were asked not to reveal the first recipients' name or location for security and privacy reasons.

The same rule applied for the other names on the lists.

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The gifts journey to Coventry was a long way from where it was produced.

It was the first of 800,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that would be dispensed in the coming weeks.

Transported in temperature-controlled condition and packaging it had arrived

The birthday gift from the dry ice had been unwrapped some time back.

It was not a simple or regular birthday gift wrap.

The corning glass vials had to be thawed for half an hour. The dilution liquids were kept ready.

The syringe was now loaded and ready with the vaccine.

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It was 6.15 am on 8th December 2020

The country waited in abated suspense.

Finally accompanied by the press live streams to the world Margaret Keenan became the first person in the Western world to be administered a vaccine outside of a trial, having been vaccinated at University Hospital Coventry although there had been earlier vaccinations in Russia.

The news flashes on the airways and digital media splashed all over the world. ‘’On 8 December 2020, Margaret "Maggie" Keenan, 90, from Coventry, became the first person to receive the vaccine in the programme of vaccination begun in the UK, closely followed by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, 81, from Warwickshire England.

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Back in Warwickshire William Shakespeare was emotional and deep in thought.

The emotions and words that may have been flashing in his mind was:

‘WHY NOT ME’

Note -- The thoughts expressed by both the historical vaccine recipients are entirely the creation of my imagination and in no way represents the thoughts of the actual recipients.

(Credits for Image and data -- internet)