At 79, he becomes the first person in Ireland to receive the Covid-19 vaccine

A 79-year-old Dublin woman has become the first person in Ireland to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Grandmother of 10, Annie Lynch from the Liberties area of ​​the city, was administered the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine at St James Hospital this afternoon.

Ms. Lynch said: “I feel very privileged to be the first person in Ireland to receive the vaccine.

“Like everyone else, I’ve been looking forward to the vaccine and I really feel like there’s a bit of hope there now. It’s brilliant that it’s here. It was all explained to me very clearly beforehand.”

Ms. Lynch lives in Drimnagh in Dublin, was born in Christchurch and grew up in Liberties.

Her husband, John, sadly passed away in September. He has three children and ten grandchildren and is currently a resident at the Mercer Institute for Successful Aging in St. James.

It was the first Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 jab to be administered at four hospitals across the country: St James’s and Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, Cork University Hospital, and University Hospital Galway.

Today the first vaccination of a health worker was also carried out.

Bernie Waterhouse, a director of clinical nursing who works in a Covid-19 designated ward at St James Hospital, took its hit.

“I wanted to get the vaccine to protect myself and the people I work with and care for every day from Covid-19,” she said.

The hospital’s CEO said they are very proud to be the first in the country to offer the vaccine to staff and patients.

Mary Day said: “All of our colleagues, our patients and their families have endured a difficult year as a result of Covid.

“While we have more to do, the hope it gives us today is truly welcome, and I thank our vaccinators and all of our staff whose hard work ensured we are up and running, protecting our team and our patients, starting today.”

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said today is a “ray of light” after a difficult year.

“It is a testament to the work of the medical and scientific communities that we now have safe and effective vaccines to help protect us against the devastating effects of Covid-19.

“Our healthcare workers have worked day and night to care for their patients during this pandemic. I would like to acknowledge their dedication and commitment, and thank them for the central role they will play as we move forward in the administration of vaccines.

“While vaccines will help us in the fight against this pandemic, Covid-19 remains a threat to health and our health services, and we must do everything we can to stop its spread. Please continue to follow public health guidelines, consider yourselves and take care of your loved ones. “

HSE chief Paul Reid said: “This vaccine has the power to protect people from Covid-19 and reduce the illnesses and deaths caused by this terrible virus.

“I am very proud to see vaccinations begin today, safely, with comprehensive training for vaccinators and patient-centered communications at your heart.

“As we know, vaccines will be delivered in stages; we initially started in acute care hospitals and will move to long-term care facilities starting next week, but this is a great start to a historic process.”

‘Memorable day’

Earlier, the head of the vaccine task force, Professor Brian MacCraith, said today was “a momentous day.”

He told RT Radio that “it is the beginning of a complex process, the beginning of the end of a terrible period.”

Professor MacCraith said he believes it is possible to complete vaccinations in nursing homes in February.

“It is quite fitting that those who suffered the most from this terrible pandemic will be priority number one,” said Professor MacCraith.

“It is very positive that we can predict that we will complete all vaccinations in nursing homes in mid-February.

“That is the ramp level that will happen.”

After this vaccination process, the health authorities will begin to vaccinate those over 70 years of age.

Professor MacCraith said it is impossible to be “absolutely precise” when the vaccination process will be completed in Ireland.

“In all our models, we are looking at various authorization and approval dates, looking at possible stopovers,” he added.

He said that in the best case scenario, anyone who wants to get the vaccine will be able to do so in August.

He said that around 530,000 vaccines will arrive in Ireland per week at its peak.

Professor MacCraith added that the vaccine quantities “will never be held back” and will be administered as soon as they are available.

He explained that the reason why half of the doses that arrived in the country on December 26 had been withheld was to ensure that they have sufficient quantities to administer the second dose.

This was done as a precautionary measure and once the supply chains, manufacturing schedules and delivery dates have been confirmed, “we will never hold the vaccine,” he said. It will be used as soon as it is available.

There have been some difficulties surrounding the supply of the vaccine in other countries, which was the reason for the caution, he said.

An additional supply of 40,000 doses is expected to arrive in Ireland today with the same quantity scheduled to arrive each week through January and February, he said.

“Because the second dose is so important, we don’t leave anything to chance.

“We want to get to a situation where we can use the 40,000 doses as soon as possible.”

Professor MacCraith said that once the AstraZeneca vaccine is available it will be “a game changer” due to the ease of use. “That will change things pretty quickly.”

The issue of informed consent was being respected and information about patient risks was also being “taken very seriously,” he said.

The working group had very good discussions with Nursing Homes Ireland about the launch of the vaccine and it was very appropriate that those who had suffered the most were prioritized.

Negotiations were also ongoing with GPs and pharmacists as “trusted community voices,” he said.

All of the workgroup modeling was based on approval dates, manufacturing schedules and delivery schedules, added Professor MacCraith.

By August he hoped that anyone who wanted the vaccine would have it. A recent survey had indicated that more than 70 percent of the population would be willing to receive the vaccine, and only one in ten said no.

A communication campaign to provide reassurance and address concerns would play an important role in the coming months, he said.