Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, received Covid-19 vaccines on Saturday, according to Buckingham Palace, the day after Britain approved a third vaccine and while the country was facing one of the deadliest weeks since the beginning of the pandemic.
The couple were vaccinated at Windsor Castle, the palace said in a statement, but it was unclear which vaccine the queen, 94, and Prince Philip, 99, received.
Britain started its vaccination implementation last month with the approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Since then, it has approved two other vaccines: last week, the one developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, and the modern one on Friday.
A royal source said the queen decided to make her vaccination public to avoid inaccuracies and speculation. The palace statement said no further details would be provided.
The Queen’s vaccination comes amid a wave of cases that have been attributed to a new variant of the virus and as Britain has entered a new national blockade.
On Saturday, 1,035 people died of coronavirus in Britain, a day after health officials reported the highest number of daily deaths since the pandemic began, with 1,325 deaths. Britain was the hardest hit country in Europe, with almost 80,000 deaths.
When England re-entered the blockade, the numbers showed that one in 50 people had tested positive recently. On Friday, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said one in 30 people in London tested positive.
Queen and Prince Philip teamed up 1.3 million people who were vaccinated in Britain, where priority was given to residents of nursing homes and people over 80. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he plans to vaccinate nearly 15 million of the country’s most vulnerable people by mid-February.
“Our hospitals are under more pressure than at any time since the pandemic began, and infection rates continue to skyrocket at an alarming rate,” Mr. Johnson said on Twitter on Saturday.
“The launch of the vaccine has given us renewed hope, but it is essential, for now, to stay home, protect the NHS and save lives,” he added, referring to the National Health Service.
The queen spoke about the impact of the pandemic in her annual Christmas address.
“This time of year will be tinged with sadness,” she said. “Some mourning the loss of loved ones, and others lost friends and family distanced from security.”
Prince Charles, the queen’s eldest son and heir to the throne, tested positive for the virus last year, as did Prince William, his grandson.