Dame Sarah Gilbert nearly in tears as Wimbledon crowd, Royal Box, cheers her lifesaving AstraZeneca Oxford vaccine

The Royal Box and an enthusiastic centre court crowd give Dame Sarah Gilbert a standing ovation on day one of the championship | WATCH

The Royal Box applauds Oxford University AstraZeneca scientist, Professor Sarah Gilbert (front row, sitting) on Centre Court on the first day of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships. Photo: AFP

Wimbledon’s Royal Box attendees and an enthusiastic centre court crowd gave Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine creator Dame Sarah Gilbert a spontaneous standing ovation in a heartwarming start to the tennis championship on Monday.

After last year’s Wimbledon cancellation, and the slow easing of Covid-19 countermeasures across the nation, the hugely appreciative crowd, many of whom have received the two AstraZeneca jabs, stood to clap and honour Dame Sarah and other developers of the vaccine, when she was introduced as a guest in the Royal Box.

Dame Sarah, the Professor of Vaccinology at Oxford University and a mother of triplets, looked astounded at the reaction.

Unlike in Australia where the AstraZeneca vaccine is viewed suspiciously because of blood clot reactions in some people, in the UK the Oxford-developed vaccine is hailed as a lifesaver. It is firmly attributed to staving off the Covid-19 threat across the land, allowing the country to slowing open up and save countless lives.

The latest fatality figures show that fewer than one in 1000 patients die Covid at the moment, compared to one in 90 that were dying during the country’s second wave at the beginning of this year.

An opening day on Centre Court with a difference...

A special moment as we say thank you to those who have played such an important role in the response to COVID-19#Wimbledonpic.twitter.com/16dW1kQ2nr

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 28, 2021

Dame Sarah, 58, who designed the vaccine with Sir Andrew Pollard, and Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility Professor Cath Green and others went from obtaining the smallest sample of the virus DNA in late January 2020 to beginning clinical trials in just 65 days.

For more than six years Dame Sarah had been working on vaccines against the flu and MERS using a common cold vector to deliver the vaccine and produce an immune response and Dame Sarah immediately switched her focus to countering the Covid-19 threat when it emerged in early January, 2020.

Hannah Ingram-Moore, the daughter of the late Captain Sir Tom Moore who raised over $A60 million for the NHS during the pandemic, was also acknowledged at Wimbledon and she stood and waved to the crowd.

Those in the Royal Box included the Duke of Kent and the motor racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart. The centre court crowd witnessed British wildcard Jack Draper take the first set off star Novak Djokovic, before the world number one settled in to win in four sets. But the big upset was on nearby court one where number three seed Stefanos Tsipsipas lost in straight sets to crowd pleasing American Frances Tiafoe.

Hannah Ingram-Moore, the daughter of Captain Tom Moore, reacts from the Royal box as she waits ahead of the men's singles first round match between Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Britain's Jack Draper, under the closed roof on Centre Court, on the first day of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships.

Wimbledon Championship chief executive Sally Bolton said she was excited that the gates were finally open, when in typical British fashion, the rain started, delaying the start of play for several hours. Matches featuring Australians Sam Stosur and Alex de Minaur were postponed for a day. But Australian John Millman was able to begin his tough match against Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain on court 12.

“We‘re finally here and we can finally open the gates, get some players on court, get some tennis played, so we can talk about tennis and not talk about Covid,’’ Ms Bolton said, as half of the normal crowd numbers were allowed into the venue, having provided proof of double vaccination or a negative test. Once in their seats spectators did not have to wear masks. By the time of the finals at the end of the fortnight, the crowds will be full house.

Ms Bolton added: “That feeling (of excitement) is no different to any year delivering the championships, there is always a myriad of things that you have planned hard for and want and hope to go perfectly, but may not.

“This year there‘s an added layer … but every year there is a degree of trepidation going into the tournament, there’s no doubt about that.”