A 90-year-old Northern Ireland woman was the first person in the UK to be given the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine this morning (8 December 2020) outside of trial circumstances.
Margaret Keenan, who is originally from Enniskillen and turns 91 next week, said it was the "best early birthday present".
Ms Keenan’s jab is the first of 800,000 doses to be administered as part of the UK Government’s mass vaccination programme, and up to four million more are expected by the end of December.
Ms Keenan’s jab was given to her at 6:30am this morning at University Hospital in Coventry and the first person to receive the vaccine within Northern Ireland is Co Down nurse, Joanna Sloan.
She will head up the vaccine roll-out within the Belfast Trust vaccination centre and was given the vaccine just after 8:00am this morning at the Royal Victoria Hospital.
"I've been waiting, looking forward to it for so long and it feels great, it feels fantastic, privileged," she told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.
"This feels like the last hurdle towards keeping people safe, myself and everyone around me."
Dundrum nurse Joanna Sloan is first person in NI to receive the vaccine - she has been a nurse for six years and has had to postpone her wedding (until April) due to the ongoing pandemic
Around 70 hospitals nationwide will act as vaccination hubs this week to roll out the jabs, as the UK becomes the first nation to use Pfizer’s vaccine after it was approved by regulators last week.
About 25,000 doses of the vaccine arrived in NI last Friday and will be distributed at seven sites across the country including the Ulster Hospital's new Emergency Department, the Seven Towers Leisure Centre in Ballymena, Antrim Forum leisure centre and the Foyle Arena in Londonderry.
It is expected that NI will receive 1.5m doses in total, according to BBC News NI.
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Those distributing the vaccines will be the first to receive it themselves and this includes more than 600 volunteers. Every person must receive two doses, three weeks apart and will only become fully protected four weeks after the initial dose.
That means vaccinators will have received just one jab when they start administering the jabs to others.
Elderly residents in care homes and their staff will take next priority and are intended to be vaccinated before Christmas.
Next will be everyone aged 80+ and mobile, as well as front line health workers, followed by people aged 70 and over.
Those who are clinically and extremely vulnerable will be next.
The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at about -70C and will be transported in special dry ice-packed boxes, when once delivered, can be kept for up to five days in a fridge.
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Health Minister Robin Swann warned this may prove a "massive logistical challenge" especially when it comes to rolling it out into care homes, which will require 12,000 doses.
Ministers also warned that it could be Easter before coronavirus restrictions are lifted in a significant way due to the length of time it will take to distribute the vaccine, which is not compulsory to receive.
The Health Minister also added that the easing of some restrictions from this Friday 11 December combined with the optimism of the vaccines should not lead to “people letting their guard down much too soon”.
He said: “It is vital to remember that this vaccination programme will take many months to complete and our rate of progress will depend on available supplies. It is a long-term undertaking.
“While we are entering a new phase, the pandemic is far from over. This is a time for maximum self-discipline – a time for us all to be ultra-vigilant.”
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