An 82-year-old Lochee man has become one of the first patients in Scotland to receive the Oxford/Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine.
Retired Cadbury Foods sales manager James Shaw received the jab from advanced nurse practitioner Justine Williams at the Lochee Health Centre at lunchtime on Monday.
He said he could now see “a glimmer” at the end of the tunnel after receiving the vaccination with his wife Malita, also 82.
He said: “It was great – such a relief. It was completely painless. Anybody who doesn’t get it needs a psychiatrist.
“I can assure you. It can’t do you any harm. It can only do you some good.
“Now I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, maybe just a glimmer, but it’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Footage courtesy STV
‘It was completely painless’
Originally from Portobello, James has lived in Lochee for the last 46 years. He said getting the vaccination only took five minutes.
“It was very enlightening. There were about three of four people waiting afterwards. I spoke to a couple of older lads and they asked what it was like and said they weren’t sure about going in.
“I said it was completely painless. You want to go and get it done.”
He lives with asthma and bronchitis and has been shielding since the start of outbreak.
“I’m very allergic to any food preservative and I have to be very careful about what I eat. I suffer from asthma and bronchitis.
“I shopped at about 8 in the morning, before there were other people in the stores. It was a sensible thing to do because I could see there were people who were ignoring the advice they had been given.”
He said he was due to get the second “booster dose” by March 29.
“Until then, you’re still careful with what you do.”
UK’s biggest ever vaccination programme
NHS Tayside is rolling out the vaccines through GP practices in the community, while continuing to vaccinate elderly residents and staff in care homes.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the vaccine for use in the UK on December 30. It is being made available to distribution centres through the country.
Tayside immunisations co-ordinator Dr Daniel Chandler said the first injections marked the “the biggest vaccine programme that the UK has ever seen across our communities.”
The NHS Tayside public health associate director said: “Over-80s are the first priority group and patients will be contacted directly to attend a vaccination session.
“The efforts of our vaccination teams have been amazing. It is testament to a real whole team approach that sees the first over-80s in the general population have their jabs today in Tayside.”
The UK Government procured the Astrazeneca vaccine on behalf of the four nations. They have ordered 100 million doses. Scotland will get 8.2% of that total, based on its population.
Enniskillen grandmother Margaret Keenan, 91, became the first person in the world to be given the previously approved Pfizer Covid-19 jab on December 8.
All over 50s to get first dose by early May
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation determine the order in which people will received the vaccine.
It will be given first to care home residents and their carers, people over the age of 80 and frontline health and social care workers.
The programme will then be rolled out to the rest of the population. This starts with people aged 75 to 79, then 70-74 and the clinically extremely vulnerable.
More than 100,000 people in Scotland have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. This includes the Pfizer/BioNTech jab that was rolled out on December 8.
The Scottish Government expects that by early May everyone over 50 and those under 50 with underlying conditions will have received at least the first dose of a vaccine.
The second dose for both vaccines can be given up to 12 weeks after the first. The second dose remains critical for longer term protection and to complete the course.
A good way to start the New Year
Scottish government health secretary Jeane Freeman said: “Seeing the Astrazeneca vaccine being administered to people in the community aged over 80 is a good way to start the New Year.
“I’m grateful to everyone in NHS Tayside and boards across the country for their work in preparing for the delivery of this newest vaccine.
“Oxford AstraZeneca has the advantage of being much easier to store and transport. This means it is easier to administer in local settings. We are also expecting to receive it in significantly larger quantities than the Pfizer vaccine.
“When it is your turn to be vaccinated you will be contacted by your local health board. I urge you to please take up the offer.”
