Sir David Attenborough and Brian Blessed OBE have both received their first dose of the Covid vaccine.
Renowned broadcaster and naturalist, Sir David, 94, received the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab last week, according to the Sun.
Meanwhile British actor, Blessed, 84, and his wife Hildegarde, were both pictured receiving the vaccine last night.
NHS Surrey Heath CCG posted a picture of the Flash Gordon star with his thumbs up after receiving the Covid jab. It is not clear which make of vaccine he received.
The clinical commissioning group said in their tweet: ‘Tonight Brian and Hildegarde Blessed joined the fight against Covid-19.
‘After receiving his Covid vaccination, Brian Blessed OBE thanked the NHS for saving his and his wife’s life.’
Renowned broadcaster and naturalist, Sir David Attenborough, 94, received the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab last week, according to the Sun
Meanwhile British actor Blessed, 84, and his wife Hildegarde, were also both pictured receiving the jab last night
The Flash Gordon star was pictured giving the thumbs up after receiving the Covid vaccine last night
Blue Planet and Planet Earth narrator, Sir David, is believed to have had the Oxford vaccine following its roll-out last Monday, according to the Sun.
Last night a source told the paper: ‘Sir David was always keen to get vaccinated, and support both the current programme and the NHS.
‘Of course, as well as his family and loved ones, millions of animal fans across the globe will be delighted – this is brilliant news.’
The national treasure, who recently returned to our television screens with a new five-part BBC series of A Perfect Planet, earlier told the Telegraph he was keen to get the jab, saying: ‘At 94, I think I’m entitled!’
However, the veteran natural historian previously admitted that the prospect of having a jab made him a little squeamish.
He added: ‘I’m sufficient of a scientist still, I hope, to realise this is the thing to do.’
Sir David has previously spoken about the impact of the Covid pandemic on the planet in a BBC Radio 5 Live podcast named What Planet Are We On? … with Liz Bonnin.
The broadcaster said he was frustrated by how the pandemic has delayed governments from taking action on environmental issues.
He said: ‘It’s been a hindrance, we can’t pretend otherwise, it’s dislocated so many lives, it’s totally interrupted continuity of thoughts and arrangements and so on.
‘It’s a disaster for all of us. We’re losing time.’
Sir David’s inoculation comes after it was announced that the Queen, 94, and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, 99, had been vaccinated against Covid.
The Monarch and Prince Philip joined the more than 2million people across Britain who have been given the jab since the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was approved for use in December.
The UK has since permitted the use of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca jab, which was rolled-out last week, alongside an inoculation developed by American biotech company Moderna.
News of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh’s vaccination is unusual from Buckingham Palace, which rarely comments on the private health matters of the royal couple.
It is understood the Queen decided the information should be made public to prevent inaccuracies and further speculation.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have today received Covid-19 vaccinations.’
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have been given the Covid-19 vaccination at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace has revealed
‘I think we’ve done two million people so far, or 2.4 million jabs,’ the PM said as he visited a vaccination centre in Bristol yesterday
However, when asked by MailOnline, the palace refused to indicate which out of the two available vaccines the couple had been given.
Matt Hancock yesterday revealed almost 2.3million people in the UK had already had a Covid-19 vaccine, with the roll-out rate hitting a rate of nearly 200,000 jabs a day even before Britain”s seven mass immunisation centres opened.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week pledged to hit 200,000 doses a day by this Friday, meaning the target appears to have been hit early.
Data shows the number of people who received their first dose of the vaccine doubled in a week, from 1.3m last Sunday to 2.6m this Sunday just gone.
Four hundred senior citizens and key workers were vaccinated against Covid-19 at the ExCel Centre in London, on its first day of operation yesterday.
NHS sources said that numbers were likely to increase massively over the next few days.
The sign that Britain’s mass vaccination drive is finally scaling up comes as welcome news, alongside the fact that the number of coronavirus cases dropped yesterday.
Department of Health chiefs announced another 46,169 people received positive test results, down 20 per cent in a week and the first sub-50,000 figure since December 28.
Ministers last night released the plan behind Britain’s great Covid vaccine roll-out, promising to dish out 2million jabs a week by the end of January through 2,700 centres dotted across the country.
With a successful inoculation drive Number 10’s only hope of ever ending the constant cycle of tough lockdowns, officials have faced mounting pressure to come clean about how they intend to protect the UK from coronavirus.
The Health Secretary said the plan — which involves creating 50 mass-vaccination centres at football stadiums and other huge venues — ‘maps our route back to normality’.
Under the plans, teachers and other key workers could be bumped up the priority queue.
So far the UK’s vaccination scheme has been plagued by supply and staffing shortages, logistical problems and bureaucratic barriers that have hampered its scale-up.
No10 today suggested they could set up a round-the-clock jab programme if the public wanted it — but that it had not yet happened because there was not the demand for it.
Ministers said an army of over 80,000 trained health workers would be involved with the vaccine rollout and more than 200,000 community volunteers have said that they will help with non-clinical side of the programme.
Fury as care home bosses boast after having vaccine first… while residents and frontline staff have to wait
By Jim Norton for the Daily Mail
Care home bosses ignited fury after boasting online about being vaccinated – while residents and frontline staff are forced to wait.
Relatives are angry that seemingly healthy executives – one of whom is just 40 – have received their jab while their loved ones remain at risk.
In one case, the leader of one of Britain’s biggest care providers was vaccinated before Christmas, despite not visiting any homes during the pandemic.
Controversial: Hayden Knight, above, is given his vaccine
Dr Pete Calveley is given his vaccination
Just 14 per cent of frontline carers have so far received a jab even though the Government says its ‘top priority’ is to get staff and residents in care homes vaccinated first.
The Mail can reveal three chief executives, in charge of more than 300 care homes between them, have posted photos of themselves on social media being vaccinated since Christmas. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing because it is ‘up to care home providers how they prioritise vaccinating their workforce’, according to the Department of Health. Nonetheless, it has provoked anger among many relatives of residents.
In a post on social media, the chief executive of Orchard Care Homes told of his delight at being ‘one of the first people in the in the country’ to receive the Oxford vaccine on January 4.
Hayden Knight, 40, would normally run the company’s 24 care homes from an office in Harrogate but is currently working from home.
The Facebook post was taken down after the daughter of an 83-year-old at one of the company’s homes in Sunderland complained.
Tania Le Marinel said her mother Edith was isolating after the home’s second Covid outbreak in under a month, with none of the 42 carers or residents having had their first jab.
She said: ‘I was so appalled they would be insensitive enough to post that. He could do his job from his office or on Zoom.’ A spokesman said Mr Knight visited a different care home once a week and that nearly half of the company’s staff and residents had received their first jab.
Tania Le Marinel, with her sister, niece, and her 83-year-old mother Edith behind the window
The chief executive of Barchester Healthcare, Dr Pete Calveley, 60, was pictured on Facebook receiving a Pfizer jab on December 23.
He has not been going into the company’s 200-plus care homes – where fewer than a fifth of residents have been vaccinated.
The daughter of a resident of 82 with Alzheimer’s at a Barchester home in Chester said she was ‘incensed’. Jenny Townsend said a jab was her only hope of seeing her ‘rapidly deteriorating’ mother. ‘It is simply unjust,’ she added.
A Barchester spokesman said Dr Calveley normally visited many of its 200 plus care homes regularly and, as soon as is allowed, intended to again. He added that senior staff had had the jab to reassure workers and residents it was safe.
The chief executive of Methodist Homes, Sam Monaghan, 59, tweeted a picture of himself with his vaccination card. He also said he had the jab to encourage residents and staff to do so.