William Shakespeare, 81, is the second person in the UK to be vaccinated against COVID-19

The 81-year-old became the second person Get the COVID-19 vaccine in the UK Tuesday, but he attracted worldwide attention with his name: William Shakespeare.

Shakespeare, from Warwickshire, the birthplace of the famous English poet, received his shot at University Hospital Coventry. Shortly after receiving the Pfizer / Bioentech vaccine, Shakespeare said it was “underground” for him to have access to a drug.

“It could make a difference in our lives from now on, wouldn’t it?” he said. “It started to change our lives and way of life.”

The first 800,000 dose of the Pfizer vaccine in the UK is for people over the age of 80 who have been hospitalized or are already scheduled outpatient appointments, with nursing home staff. The UK is getting a start on the program after British regulators gave emergency approval on December 2 to a vaccine produced by US pharmaceutical maker Pfizer and Germany’s Bioendech. The first recipient is Grandma Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week.

As for Shakespeare, the octogenarian name received a mild response from many, often with online references to Shakespeare’s works, such as “Damning of the Shrew” and “The Two Gentleman of Verona”.

A user refers to “Hamlet” Tweet About the most famous patient in the UK: “If the patient for the Margaret Keenan vaccine was 1A, would William Shakespeare be 2b, or not 2b …”

Responding to a tweet, she said a woman who claimed to be Shakespeare’s daughter-in-law said she would like to see her family soon.

“That’s my beautiful uncle, you talk,” he said. “Sometimes he wants to see his wife, children and grandchildren. Can’t see him now. Very deserving recipient.”

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock shed tears in a televised interview after hearing that Shakespeare had been vaccinated.

“It was a very difficult year for many, and William Shakespeare says it very simply that, for everyone, we can move on with our lives,” he said.

U.S. and EU officials are examining the vaccine taken by Shakespeare and the rival products developed by the American biotechnology company Moderna, in collaboration with the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca.