91-year-old man becomes internet hero after being asked about the Covid vaccine live on air

A “very British” celebrity was born on Tuesday, after a “charming” 91-year-old man received one of the world’s first Covid-19 vaccinations.

In an man-on-the-street interview with CNN – that currently has more than 4.5 million view on Twitter – Martin Kenyon described his experience at a London hospital in great detail, and discussed his post-vaccination plans.  

The Londoner – who received his first dose of Pfizer’s vaccine on the very first day if was offered by the NHS – said he was looking forward to hugging his granddaughters once he had been given his second dose.

He also called receiving the vaccine “very unexciting” – which was, as Hugo Bebbington put it, “a master of understatement”.

“I hope I’m not going to get the bloody bug now. I don’t intend to have it because I’ve got granddaughters. I intend to live a long time to enjoy their lives,” he told CNN’s Cyril Vanier.

“There’s no point in dying now when I’ve lived this long,” he added.

Our hero also lamented that he’d had “a rather nasty lunch” while waiting for his appointment, and that he had trouble getting a parking spot.

His appearance made him the unlikely face and hero of the UK’s efforts to instill confidence about the new vaccine, as numerous Twitter users called the interview “hilarious”, “the best thing ever” and remarking that Kenyon was a “complete treasure” but had a “very British attitude” about the whole thing.

“British understatement never fails to make me smile. This is great,” MSP Dean Lockhart wrote on Tuesday.

“CNN seem to have found the most British man on the planet,” another person joked. 

And as much as we love Martin, the other hero of the day seems to be a universal healthcare system. As one person on Twitter wrote, “And just to reiterate for my American friends, this was all free. See, ‘communist’ systems like the NHS do have their benefits!”