Margaret Keenan turns 91 next week. Courtesy

A 90-year-old grandmother has become the first person in the world to be given the Pfizer Covid-19 jab as part of a mass vaccination programme in the United Kingdom, the BBC has reported.

Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, said it was the “best early birthday present”.

She was given the injection at 09:31 Tuesday [South Sudan/East African Time].

“I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against Covid-19,” Ms Keenan said.

Up to four million more doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are expected by the end of the month.

“It’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the new year after being on my own for most of the year,” Margaret Keenan stressed.

Centres in the United Kingdom will vaccinate over-80s and some health and care staff – the programme aims to protect the most vulnerable and return life to normal.

According to the Health Secretary, this simple act of vaccination was “a tribute to scientific endeavour and human ingenuity and to the hard work of so many people.

“Today marks the start of the fightback against our common enemy, the coronavirus,” Matt Hancock said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on a visit to a London hospital to see some of the first people getting the jab, said getting vaccinated was “good for you and good for the whole country”.

Throughout the morning, patients and health workers at some 50 hospitals around the UK, have been getting the jab.

Some 800,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine have been secured by the government to be administered in the coming weeks – although vaccination is not compulsory.

Orders have been placed for 40 million in total – enough for 20 million people, as two courses are needed.

“My advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it. If I can have it at 90, then you can have it too,” Ms Keenan concluded.