Making history: nurses proud to take part in first day of COVID-19 vaccinations
Modern matron May Parsons gave the first injection as the UK vaccination programme gets underway
Modern matron May Parsons made history at 6.31am when she administered the world’s first official COVID-19 vaccination.
Filipino-British nurse says she is proud to have delivered the first vaccination
Ms Parsons was one of many nurses across the UK today to deliver – and in some cases receive – the recently approved Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
The modern matron said she was honoured to administer the first jab to 90-year-old Margaret Keenan at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.
‘The past few months have been tough for all of us working in the NHS, but now it feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel,’ she said.
Ms Parsons, originally from the Philippines, has worked in the NHS for the past 24 years and said she was proud to be a Filipino-Briton making history.
Vaccinated nurse says she hopes to challenge misconceptions about vaccine safety
Other nurses were among the first groups to receive the vaccine, among them being Sara Morgan, advanced nurse practitioner in GP out of hours at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and a senior lecturer in advanced practice.
Ms Morgan said: ‘Many of us have lost relatives and colleagues to COVID-19, by getting vaccinated I’m paying my respect to those individuals.'
She hoped that seeing healthcare professionals getting vaccinated will help challenge any misconceptions about vaccine safety and encourage uptake.
Vaccinators among the first to receive the jab
Nurses in Northern Ireland and Scotland were also among the first people to have the vaccine.
Nurse Joanna Sloan of Belfast Health and Social Care Trust was the first in Northern Ireland to receive the vaccine, as part of a policy in the country to prioritise vaccinators.
Vaccinators were also among the first to receive the jab in Scotland with the first doses administered at NHS Lothian today.
RCN chief executive Dame Donna Kinnair said all nurses should feel proud on this historic day: ‘Nursing staff know that with every vaccination they give, this dreadful situation moves that little bit closer to its end.
‘This unprecedented roll-out plan relies most heavily on nursing staff in all settings and they feel great responsibility and pride today.’
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