A Dundee woman has spoken of her delight after celebrating her 100th birthday by getting a coronavirus vaccination.
Perth Road resident Edith Dean is among the first few thousand in the country to receive the Covid-19 Oxford/Astrazeneca jab.
Staff at Westgate Medical Practice administered the first dose on Friday.
The Yorkshire-born pensioner said: “I’m delighted to have it and it was absolutely painless.
“I’ve had a fabulous birthday.
“I’ve got a wonderful family around me. I couldn’t be more blessed so I’m extremely happy.”
NHS services across the country are currently administering doses of the second vaccine to be approved for use in the UK.
The roll-out began on Monday and comes after the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine programme commenced in December last year.
A third vaccine, created by US company Moderna, was also approved today although it will likely not be available until March.
Vaccine a ‘relief’ for family
Edith’s granddaughter Jennie Colville, 36, who is a GP at Westgate, said it was a hugely emotional day.
She said: “We are all so pleased she’s had her vaccine because it’s just such a relief.
“I feel so lucky to have her so close by. She’s a great influence on my kids.
“If she lived far away, these past months would have been really hard.”
She added: “She does all her online shopping at Tesco on her own. She doesn’t even have any carers. She is just so brilliant, my grandma.
“She does everything herself; she is incredible.”
Edith lived in Lacey Green, Buckinghamshire, before moving up to Tayside in her 90s to be closer to family following a hip operation.
She has 10 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren in three-year-old Levi and six-month-old Shiloh, who was born during the pandemic.
Her second dose of the Oxford jab is booked in for April.
NHS Tayside says around 1,800 people are expected to be vaccinated in the first seven days of the programme.
A total of 19 practices across Dundee, Angus and Perth & Kinross are offering the jabs at present.
More are expected to join next week as more vaccine supplies become available.
Tayside is one of the first areas in the UK to offer it in GP surgeries.
Monday vaccinations
Dundee couple James and Malita Shaw, both aged 82, were among the first in Scotland to receive the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine at Lochee Health Centre in Dundee on Monday.
James said: “My wife and I are delighted to be receiving this vaccination. I have asthma and bronchitis and I have been desperate to have it so I am really pleased to be one of the first to be getting it.
“I know it takes a little while for the vaccine to work but after today I know that I will feel a bit less worried about going out. I will still be very careful and avoid busy places but knowing I have been vaccinated will really help me.
“All of my friends have said they are going to have the vaccine when it is their turn and I would encourage everyone who is offered this vaccination to take it.”
85-year-old Thomas McConnachie was also vaccinated at Lochee Health Centre on Monday and hopes that this can help lead to a return to normal life.
Mr McConnachie said, “It’s a worrying and sad time and I feel very fortunate that I was one of the first to receive this vaccination.
“Since the start of the pandemic I have been very careful and followed the guidance on staying apart and wearing a mask but I am aware when I am out that others don’t always.
“My advice to those who are offered this vaccination is to just go for it. We need to do everything we can that helps us and the vaccination is one of these things.”
