NI begins coronavirus vaccination programme
The first part of the vaccination roll out begins in Northern Ireland today (Tuesday) as the NHS embarks on a mass vaccination programme.
The Pfizer/BioNTech dose will be administered at 8am at a mass vaccination centre at the Royal Victoria Hospital.
The recipient will be one of an 800-plus team of vaccinators that will be involved in the subsequent rollout programme.
Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann described it as a "hugely important day'' but cautioned the full programme will take months to deliver.
90 year old Margaret Keenan, who's originally from Enniskillen, received the jab at 6.31am in Coventry on Tuesday, marking the start of a phased rollout of the vaccine to older people, NHS staff and care home workers.
Mrs Keenan said: "I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against Covid-19, it's the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the New Year after being on my own for most of the year.
"I can't thank May and the NHS staff enough who have looked after me tremendously, and my advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it - if I can have it at 90 then you can have it too.''
On Monday, Mr Swann announced care home residents in Northern Ireland will also be prioritised in the first phase.
He said deployment of the vaccine to care homes will proceed in the coming days.
The minister said officials have been working on the logistical requirements for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and reached a solution involving mobile teams operating from the different trust vaccination centres.
"We are currently considering how these arrangements might be extended to include over-80s in the community,'' Mr Swann added.
Stocks of coronavirus vaccine arrived in Northern Ireland on Friday.
There are 25,000 doses in the initial batch of the vaccine.
The stocks have been taken to a central storage facility operated by a private company. The location is not being disclosed.
Two of the facilities are located on hospital grounds - at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald and Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital - and the rest in leisure centres.
The centres will operate 12 hours a day and seven days a week.