A 79-YEAR-old woman from Dublin has become the first person in the Republic of Ireland to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. 

Annie Lynch, a grandmother from Dublin’s inner city, was vaccinated at St James’ Hospital at around 1.30pm this afternoon.

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

“Like everyone else I have been waiting for the vaccine and I really feel like there is a bit of hope there now. It’s brilliant that it’s here. Everything was explained very clearly to me beforehand.”

The HSE said Lynch received the vaccine alongside healthcare workers from the hospital today. 

Annie Lynch receiving the Covid-19 vaccine in St James' Hospital. Source: Marc O'Sullivan

Annie Lynch after receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in Dublin. Source: Marc O'Sullivan

Annie Lynch lives in Drimnagh in Dublin but was born in Christchurch and grew up in the Liberties. Her husband John sadly passed away in September.

She has three children and 10 grandchildren, and is currently a resident in the Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing at St. James’s.

Bernie Waterhouse, a clinical nurse manager working in a Covid-19 ward in St James’ Hospital, was the first healthcare worker to get the vaccine. 

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

Waterhouse told RTÉ’s Drivetime that she wasn’t aware until half an hour beforehand that she would become the first healthcare worker in the Republic to receive the vaccine.

She described the difficulties over recent months of working on a Covid ward: from concerns earlier in the year over the effectiveness of PPE to the continuing need to reduce social and family contacts more than other parts of the population.

Waterhouse said she will feel more at ease having been vaccinated, but that the need to maintain social distance, wear a face covering and continue to practice good hand hygiene will remain important for some time.

Bernie Waterhouse is a CNM working in a COVID-19 ward in @stjamesdublin and is the first healthcare worker in Ireland to get the #CovidVaccine. She said “I wanted to get the vaccine to protect myself, and the people I work with and care for every day, from COVID-19.” pic.twitter.com/NoiY4zlx4d

— HSE Ireland (@HSELive) December 29, 2020

Each person who received the jab was given a vaccine record card, showing the name and batch number of the vaccine they received. 

They will return for their second and final dose in three weeks. 

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

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

CEO of the HSE Paul Reid said he is “very proud to see the vaccinations commence today”. 

As we know, the vaccines will be delivered in stages – we’re starting in acute hospitals initially, and will move into long-term care facilities from next week, but this is a great start to an historic process.

A small number of vaccines will be administered today at Beaumont and St James’ hospitals in Dublin, along with Cork and Galway university hospitals.

10,000 doses of the vaccine arrived in Ireland on St Stephen’s Day and have been in cold storage since then.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) described today as a “proud day for the profession” after a nurse administered the first vaccine this afternoon.

The president of the INMO and advanced nurse practitioner, Karen McGowan, said: “Nurses have been at the front of the Covid fight since the virus first arrived. We are now taking these important steps against this horrible virus.”