The small remote island off the South Atlantic could “become the first island to be completely vaccinated against Covid-19,” the British military said on Friday.
The island – a British overseas territory – has a population of just over 800 inhabitants.
At least 1,950 doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine arrived at Ascension earlier this week on a special support flight by the Royal Air Force.
Georgetown Hospital staff began administering the vaccine, and the first to be vaccinated were hospital employee Sylvia Isaac and her husband Mervyn.
In a statement, Ms Isaac said: “I feel very privileged to be able to receive this vaccine” and that “the vaccination itself was quick and painless”.
“We hope this vaccine will protect us from the worst effects of COVID-19 and also help protect family, friends and the rest of the community,” she said.
Given the number of inhabitants anticipated by the Ascension Island Government, “the first doses will be given to all those offered by the end of next week.”
The government of Ascension Philip Rushbrook said: “I am delighted to be in Ascension at this time to see the arrival and distribution of vaccines directly.”
“I would like to personally thank everyone involved in doing this.” He said the delivery of the vaccines “is the culmination of a lot of hard work in several UK government departments, the RAF and the Ascension Island government”.
Royal Air Force flight officer George Cox, a cargo commander, said: “Places like Ascension Island are notoriously difficult to reach.”
The vaccines landed on an A400M Atlas cargo plane because “the RAF can go to remote locations that commercial planes can’t necessarily access,” said Flying Officer Cox.
Where is the Ascension? A 33-square-mile volcanic island, Ascension, is about 1,000 miles off the coast of Africa and 1,400 miles off Brazil. The nearest neighbors are on the island of St. Helena 700 miles north.
Ascension Island is part of the overseas territory of the United Kingdom of Saint Helena, the Ascension and Tristan da Cunha and has its own self-governing Constitution and makes its own laws.