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What’s in a name?

Coronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2.

By any name, ’tis transmitt’d as easily.

The balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet is a great way to describe dating or socialising during the pandemic. Someone yelling at you from your yard isn’t unheard of.

But some light through yonder window breaks, as the first round of vaccines have started rolling out.

(The wordplay and puns are going to keep coming, so strap in.)

The nearly 91-year-old Margaret Keenan kicked things off, becoming the first person to receive the jab in the UK, and the first to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials.

Per Sky News, she says that she felt “so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against COVID-19” and that:

“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.”

Here she is, making history:

Health Secretary Matt Hancock reacting to footage of Mrs Keenan getting vaccinated, says he felt “quite emotional, actually, watching those pictures”.

Next up, William Shakespeare.

The 81-year-old, sporting a rather fantastic name, was the second person to receive the vaccine and the one who sparked the most joy on the internet.

Here he is, also making history, in more ways than one:

According to The Washington Post the memes, puns, and altered quotes from the bard flooded social media.

Some of the classics include:

“They really are prioritising the elderly: this guy is 456,” wrote one user, while the term “Two Gentlemen of Corona,” a play on “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” swiftly became a top trend in Britain.

More:

I’ve heard of #MiracleCures and all, but if this #CovidVaccine works on men who have been dead 404 years, I’ll truly be impressed! 💉 “The time has been that…the man would die,
And there an end. But now they rise again” (Macbeth 3.4). #WilliamShakespeare #Covid19 #Macbeth pic.twitter.com/ir8jMZk7gz

— PlaidBuford (@plaidbuford) December 9, 2020

‘The Taming of the Flu’ – best pun I’ve heard today, take a bow @march_change #WilliamShakespeare

— Kate Wright (@kwrightwrites) December 8, 2020

‘if you prick us do we not bleed’ ask him he’s just there now having a jab …. William Shakespeare 💉 pic.twitter.com/wOMz1kf3MT

— Santy Bradders 🎄 (@tunesisme) December 8, 2020

#WilliamShakespeare told asked the nurse: ‘Is this vaccine for TB? Or not TB?’😀

When asked how it was administered Mr Shakespeare said. “As you like it”

— Socialist_Tipster (@Eyecatcher_Pro) December 8, 2020

Shakespeare was administered the vaccine by the same nurse who gave it to Mrs Keenan, May Parsons, who arrived in Britain from the Philippines 17 years ago, and who says she was “proud to contribute to stopping the pandemic”.

All’s well that ends well.

Lastly, there’s this delightful gentleman, who deserves a mention.

Martin Kenyon, 91, was outside Guy’s Hospital in London after getting the Pfizer vaccine, when he was stopped by a CNN reporter.

The video has gone viral:

“No point dying now, is there?” is the new motto for 2020.

[source:skynews&washingtonpost]