Covid-19 vaccine Ireland: introducing Dublin great-of-ten, who will be the first person to receive Pfizer / BioNTech jab

An elderly Dublin woman and grandmother of ten will become the FIRST person in the Republic of Ireland to be administered the Covid-19 vaccine.

Born in Christchurch, Mrs. Liberties Annie, whose last name has not been provided, will be the first member of the public to receive the vaccine at St. James Hospital.

An ICU nurse who works in a Covid ward will receive the vaccine first, but Annie, 79, will receive the vaccine thereafter.

Sadly, Annie’s husband passed away earlier this year, but one of her ten grandchildren is a healthcare worker at St. James’s and will be with her for an unprecedented moment.

Beaumont Hospital and St. James’s in Dublin, as well as Cork University Hospital and Galway University Hospital, will begin vaccinating the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine in Ireland starting today, Tuesday, December 29.

Around 10,000 doses of the vaccine arrived on St. Stephen’s Day and Ireland was aiming to inject up to 20,000 people a week from the beginning of January.

According to Covid-19 Vaccination Task Force Chair Brian MacCraith, St. James Hospital will receive the first vaccine at 1:30 pm.

It comes as reports this morning suggest the government could implement a ‘full Level 5’ set of restrictions in the coming days for fear of an increase in cases.

Cabinet ministers are said to be concerned about the number of people hospitalized with coronavirus and the rate of positivity in test rates.

The number of hospitals is “increasing dramatically” and Dr Tony Holohan said there was a “worrying trend” of increasing hospital admissions in Ireland “outpacing the number of people hospitalized in wave three than wave two”.

It is suggested that “it cannot be ruled out” that the government will adopt new measures with stricter restrictions in the coming days, according to reports.