'Bill' William Shakespeare, 81, receives the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at University Hospital in Coventry. Photo / Getty Images, File
The first man to receive a Covid-19 vaccination has died of an unrelated illness, aged 81.
William "Bill" Shakespeare was only the second person in the world to get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in December at University Hospital Coventry, soon after 91-year-old Margaret Keenan at the same hospital.
Paying tribute following
his peaceful death, his wife Joy said the former parish councillor and father-of-two was "so grateful" to have the jab so early.
"It was something he was hugely proud of - he loved seeing the media coverage and the positive difference he was able to make to the lives of so many," she said in a statement.