Waterford great-grandmother Margaret Power has become one of the first people over the age of 85 in Ireland to receive the Covid vaccine in the community.
The 93-year-old told the PA news agency: “So far so good. I don’t feel any effects yet. It’s grand to have it over me.
“I was thinking about it and I couldn’t sleep thinking about what I was going to have. I didn’t know I was going to be the first to get it here in the age group.”
Mrs Power received the jab from her local GP at the Keogh Practice’s dedicated Covid-19 vaccination centre in Waterford on Tuesday morning.
“It’s a great feeling,” she said. “I’ll have to have a second one, and then I’ll feel protected.”
Mrs Power said she is looking forward to spending more time with her family once she is fully vaccinated.
The Keogh practice is aiming to vaccinate 350 patients today. It's one of two practices in the county administering the vaccine today.
The second is the Tramore Family Practice Medical Centre which will vaccinate 150 over the next two days.
People over the age of 85 living in the community are the third group prioritised for the vaccine under the HSE's rollout plan, after people over the age of 65 in long-term residential facilities and healthcare workers.
Last week, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) confirmed they would be sticking to their recommendation that the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be used for people over 65 due to a lack of data regarding its efficacy in older people.
Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended the AstraZeneca jab for use in all adults over 18.
However, NIAC said the WHO report did not provide data that was substantially different to the early report on the jab by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), on which NIAC's original decision was based.
additional reporting by Julie Smyth
