2 years since Covid vaccine rolled out across Lancashire
There's a huge 'thank you' to everyone involved
The first person in the whole of the North West region to receive the Coronavirus vaccine is saying a massive thank you to all the people involved in it's creation and it's roll out.
On 8th December 2020 the UK became the first place in the world to administer the Pfizer BioNTech vaccination.
Margaret Keenan was the very first person globally to receive the vaccine, but just minutes later, Doreen McKeown from Hutton in Preston became the first in the North West.
She's been reflecting on that time speaking to us.
Doreen, now 83 said:
"It's so easy to forget just how scary the world was back then. Doctors and nurses wearing equipment that looked like it belonged on mars.
"I was first into the room. Me and another Gentleman got there and I was the first to fill out my paperwork. I went into another room and was greeted by about 15 or 20 people and I realised what a big occasion it was.
"The first person I saw (after the vaccine) was my grandson who said 'does this mean i can hug you and kiss you whenever i want now nana?' and that's what it did mean, families and loved ones could see each other again and it was wonderful."
To date around 80% of the British population have been vaccinated and over 70% of the global population, that's nearly 5 and a half billion people who've followed in Doreen's footsteps.