It's a monumental day in the fight against Covid-19, as the first vaccine is administered.
79-year-old Annie Lynch has become the first recipient of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
The grandmother-of-ten was given the vaccine at St James's Hospital at around half 1 this afternoon.
The next recipient was a clinical nurse manager in a designated Covid-19 ward in the hospital.
Annie has three immediate children, but sadly her husband John passed away in September.
#Breaking Meet Annie Lynch, the 79-year-old grandmother from Dublin who has just become the first person in Ireland to receive Covid-19 vaccine #COVID19 #rtenews pic.twitter.com/21Aen5QNOY
— Colm Hand (@ColmHand) December 29, 2020
79-year-old Annie Lynch from Dublin becomes the first person in the Republic of Ireland to receive the #COVID19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/eQIANCuhh3
— Richard Chambers (@newschambers) December 29, 2020
Beaumont Hospital as well as Cork and Galway university hospitals will also begin administering vaccines today.
A further 30 thousand vaccines are due to arrive into the country this afternoon.
Chair of the Covid-19 vaccine taskforce Breen Mac Craith has said each hospital already has 500 doses.
The good news comes as the Cabinet will meet tomorrow to discuss the rapid spread of Covid-19.
There has also been a sharp rise in hospital admissions related to the virus.
There are more people in hospital with Covid-19 today than any day since May 15th.
409 patients are in hospital with the virus, which is 49 more than yesterday.
It's significantly more than the peak during the second wave, when 354 people were hospitalised in late October.
Nonetheless, there is a light at the end of the tunnel with today's vaccination news.
