108-year-old woman is given Covid-19 vaccine in Italy, months after surviving coronavirus infection
A 108-year-old Italian woman has become one of the oldest people in the world to get a Covid-19 vaccine, months after she survived a coronavirus infection, her retirement home said.
Fatima Negrini, who is due to turn 109 on June 3, received the jab on Monday along with other residents of the Anni Azzurri San Faustino care home in Milan, Italy.
'The arrival of the vaccine for her and all guests and staff represents a moment of great happiness and a first step towards a return to peaceful everyday life inside the facility,' said Matteo Tessarollo.
Fatima Negrini, who is due to turn 109 on June 3, received the jab on Monday along with other residents of the Anni Azzurri San Faustino care home in Milan, Italy
Negrini became one of the oldest people in the world to get the jab, months after she survived a coronavirus infection
When Negrini, who was born two years before the First World War began, shook off the virus last year, the Corriere della Sera newspaper quoted her as saying: 'God forgot about me.'
'He didn't call me to him,' she told Deutsche Welle at the time. 'I've still got some good deeds to do, even though I'm in a wheelchair
Italy began coronavirus vaccinations on December 27 and has since inoculated 1.15 million people.
Italy began coronavirus vaccinations on December 27 and has since inoculated 1.15 million people. Pictured: Negrini received the vaccine just months after she survived a coronavirus infection
On Monday, a vaccine was also given to Sami Modiano, a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor from Rome, according to regional president and leader of the centre-left Democratic Party Nicola Zingaretti.
Posting a picture of Modiano getting the jab on Twitter, Zingaretti called it 'an image of trust and hope for everybody'.
The positive move comes as the number of Covid-19 cases in Italy have fallen in recent days.
The daily tally of new infections fell to 8,824 from 12,545 in the country on Monday, the health ministry said, while 377 coronavirus-related deaths were recorded - the same amount as the day before.
However, the number of swab tests also fell, as often happens over the weekend, totalling just 158,674 against a previous 211,078.
Italy has registered 82,554 COVID-19 deaths since its outbreak came to light last February, the second-highest toll in Europe and the sixth-highest in the world. The country has also reported 2.39 million cases to date.
