In England, William Shakespeare receives COVID-19 vaccine

“Bill” William Shakespeare, 81, receives the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at University Hospital, at the start of the largest ever immunization program in British history, in Coventry, Britain December 8, 2020. Britain is the first country in the world to start vaccinating people with the Pfizer/BioNTech jab. Jacob King/Pool via REUTERS

LONDON — William Shakespeare from Warwickshire in England was one of the first people to receive the newly approved COVID-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial on Tuesday.

The 81-year-old had the injection at University Hospital Coventry on Tuesday, 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of his namesake, England’s greatest dramatist, and poet.

Shakespeare’s shot inspired Twitter users, who joked “The Taming of the Flu”, “The Two Gentlemen of Corona.” Some asked if Margaret Keenan was patient 1A, then was Shakespeare “Patient 2B or not 2B?”