Dr Hari Shukla among the first in the world to receive vaccine

Published on 08 December 2020

Dr Hari Shukla, who received his honorary award from our University in 1997, will be administered with the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine this morning at the RVI in Newcastle - one of 50 national vaccination hubs, alongside his wife Ranju.

Dr Shukla, 87, a former GP and race relations campaigner, said: “I’m so pleased we are hopefully coming towards the end of this pandemic and I am delighted to be doing my bit by having the vaccine, I feel it is my duty to do so and do whatever I can to help."

Margaret Keenan, 90, became the first person to receive the first dose of the two-phase Covid-19 vaccine this morning at University Hospital in Coventry.

Dr Shukla is from Kenya where his father, originally from Bombay, had moved to work on the railways.

He studied at Exeter University, returned to Kenya to teach then was offered his first job in race relations in Scunthorpe before moving to Newcastle in 1974.

Dr Shukla has been awarded an MBE, OBE and CBE for his work on race relations and helping to bring communities together.