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Vaccine success 'most profound moment of my life'

Mark Norman
BBC South East Health Correspondent
Mark Norman/BBC Pfizer scientist Dr Nicholas Kitchin looks at the camera with a blue wall behind him.Mark Norman/BBC
Dr Nicholas Kitchin was one of a team of scientists who developed the Pfizer Covid vaccine

A scientist who helped develop the Pfizer Covid vaccine has said he found out the jab worked as he left his mother's funeral.

Dr Nicholas Kitchin, vice president of vaccine research at the Pfizer site in Tadworth, Surrey, developed the vaccine with colleagues from across the south-east of England while collaborating with scientists around the world.

During the pandemic, the UK approved five vaccines for use, including one developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, which paved the way for mass vaccination.

Dr Kitchin said finding out the vaccine was successful "was probably one of the most profound moments of my life".

On 11 March, 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Covid-19 a pandemic, and just six days later, Pfizer signed a letter of intent to co-develop a potential vaccine with BioNTech.

Vaccine rollout

In November 2020, Dr Kitchin attended his mother's funeral.

After the service, he said: "Everyone turned their phones on... The BBC app was blowing up.

"That was the first time I found out the vaccine was successful - probably one of the most profound moments of my life."

In December, UK grandmother Margaret Keenan, 91, became the first person in the world to be given the jab as part of a mass vaccination programme.

The NHS worked with local government, the voluntary sector and volunteers to roll out the jab.

Jo Downs Jo Downs giving a thumbs up to the camera alongside a member of the public. Both of them are wearing masks.Jo Downs
Jo Downs (pictured right) volunteered during the pandemic to help the vaccine rollout

Jo Downs had been a dental assistant before the pandemic and volunteered with the Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust.

"Everybody realised how important it was," she said. "Everybody wanted to get back to as much normality as possible.

"It was about protecting ourselves but everybody else as well."

Anthony Kimber Residents of Rye, East Sussex, queue at their local vaccination centre with the double doors to the building open on a sunny day.Anthony Kimber
Volunteers in East Sussex set up their own vaccination centre in Rye for local residents

Anthony Kimber from the Rye Emergency and Community Team (REACT) helped set up a vaccination centre in Rye.

He said: "I made a bit of a nuisance of myself.

"We said we needed a vaccination centre in Rye that would supply 20,000 souls in this remote part of East Sussex.

"When we demonstrated we could do it, and they inspected us to make sure we could, then we were off!"

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