Preston woman, 81, becomes first person in Lancashire to receive Covid vaccine

Doreen McKeown, 81, became the first person to be vaccinated at Royal Preston Hospital at 7.20am.

A spokesman for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals said: "So proud to have given our first COVID-19 vaccination to 81-year-old Doreen McKeown at 7.20am this morning at Royal Preston Hospital.

"Doreen is one of our volunteers so we are delighted to give something back to someone who gives us so much."

And just minutes later, 82-year-old Agnes Lovett from Lytham became the first to be vaccinated with the potentially life-saving jab at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

A spokesman for Blackpool Teaching Hospitals said: "Proud to have given our first COVID-19 vaccination to 82-year-old Agnes Lovett from Lytham St Annes who praised our “excellent” staff - and even brought them some lovely biscuits."

The two women are among the first in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine today, as both Blackpool Victoria and Royal Preston Hospital help kick-start the country’s largest ever vaccination programme.

The two Lancashire hospitals are among 50 'vaccine hubs' across the UK which are at the forefront of the biggest immunisation programme in NHS history.

From today, both hospitals will begin vaccinating people aged 80 and over, as well as some of the county's care home workers and those NHS workers who are at higher risk of COVID-19.

NHS staff worked through the weekend to prepare for the launch of the programme and the arrival of the vaccines, which were delivered under tight security yesterday.

The vaccine is from US and German-owned Pfizer/BioNTech and the UK has ordered 40 million doses in total - enough for 20 million people - with 800,000 of those being part of the first roll-out.

All those vaccinated will need a booster jab 21 days later.

GPs and other primary care staff are also being put on standby to start delivering the jab, with a small number of GP-led primary care networks to offer it to those eligible from next week.

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