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COVID-19: nurse says giving first dose of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is ‘a privilege’

Sam Foster administers jab to kidney dialysis patient Brian Pinker

Chief nurse Sam Foster administers jab – which was approved in the UK on 30 December – to dialysis patient Brian Pinker

Chief nurse Sam Foster administered the first Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Brian Pinker at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford
Chief nurse Sam Foster administered the first Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Brian Pinker earlier today. Picture: PA/Alamy

The chief nurse who administered the UK’s first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine described it as ‘a real privilege’.

Dialysis patient Brian Pinker received the jab at 7.30am from chief nurse Sam Foster at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s Churchill Hospital.

Jab against coronavirus gives dialysis patient peace of mind

Chief nurse Ms Foster said: ‘It was a real privilege to be able to deliver the first Oxford vaccine at the Churchill Hospital here in Oxford, just a few hundred metres from where it was developed.

‘We look forward to vaccinating many more patients and health and care staff with the Oxford vaccine in the coming weeks, which will make a huge difference to people living in the communities we serve and the staff who care for them in our hospitals.’

Mr Pinker, who has been undergoing dialysis for kidney disease at the hospital for a number of years, said the jab will give him peace of mind as he continues to receive treatment.

Five other hospital trusts to receive vaccine before bulk of supplies are sent out

He is now looking forward to celebrating his 48th wedding anniversary in February and said: ‘I am so pleased to be getting the COVID vaccine today and proud that it is one invented in Oxford.'

The first Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccinations will be delivered in Oxford and five other hospital trusts – two in London, and three in Sussex, Lancashire and Warwickshire – to allow for monitoring, before the bulk of supplies are sent to hundreds of GPs later this week.

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