The Real Reason This Great British Bake Off Host Already Received A COVID Vaccine

Earlier today, chef, restaurateur, and Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith tweeted a picture of herself at a clinic getting vaccinated for COVID-19. Why did Leith place herself first in line for the new vaccine? The question that Leith poses to us is, why not? As Leith captioned her photo, "Who wouldn't want immunity from #Covid19 with a painless jab?? #vaccine"

This makes Leith one of the first  800,000 people to get the first half of the vaccine in the United Kingdom — she'll have to return for the follow-up in three weeks (via Deadline). This vaccination comes after Leith joined the 150-person pod earlier this year comprised of GBBO's crew, bakers, and judges, who all came together to film the show's eleventh season. Hopefully, by season twelve, the whole GBBO team will be vaccinated, ready to resume business as usual. After all, baking should never be a life-threatening activity (even if that Bonkers Bake Off Bubble Cake is to die for). 

A week ago, on December 8th, the United Kingdom first started administering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to healthcare workers and people ages 80 and over (via AP). Now, thousands of people have received the first vaccine — the follow-up shots will be administered twenty-one days after the first. Yesterday, hundreds of clinics across England received the vaccine, and they began administering the shots today. 

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom is also facing a new strain of the virus, though the WHO assures us that there's no reason to believe that this new strain is deadlier or more contagious. In London, cases are rising, and the city has gone back into strict lockdown (via CNN). 

"It would be such a tragedy to lose even more people to this disease when the vaccine is now being rolled out across our city," London's mayor Sadiq Khan said. "We know from bitter experience that when cases start to rise quickly, it's much better to act early, rather than too late. This is how we can avoid even tougher restrictions, for longer, further down the road."