It’s a real shot in the arm! Care home residents weep tears of joy at the prospect of seeing relatives again after becoming among the first to get the new Covid jab

Care home residents shed tears of joy after they became among the very first in England to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, alongside their carers.

Pauline Dickens, 84, a resident of Wellcroft Care Home, based near Gatley, Stockport, is looking forward to hugging her four grandchildren for the first time since March 2020 after receiving a dose of the vaccine today.

The vaccine has been rolled out to GP surgeries, with care home residents and staff among the top of the waiting list. 

The target for mid-February is for 13million people in the top four priority groups to be vaccinated.

Pauline Dickens, 84, was one of the first care home patients to be administered with the new Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine

Mrs Dickens' care home suffered a Covid-19 outbreak in September, with family visits not taking place at the home since the beginning of the pandemic. 

Widow Mrs Dickens, who was one of 29 residents at the home to receive a jab today, said: 'It's an honour to be among the first people in the region to receive the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

'It was an easy process and will hopefully mean that life can begin to return to normal in 2021 and will mean we will all be able to hug our families soon, who we've all missed.

'That will mean a great deal.'

Gemma Billing, community matron for Stockport Clinical Commissioning Group, was on hand to help GPs administer the injections. 

Mrs Dickens said: 'It's an honour to be among the first people in the region to receive the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine'

She said some old people had today wept tears of joy as they received the vaccine.

Mrs Billing, a mother-of-three, said: 'It's amazing and it is inspiring, it is one of the reasons you go into nursing.

'You feel like you are doing good, if I am honest, so it is that first step of turning things around.

'I think people are ready to go back to some sort of normality so they are excited at the opportunity to have that, to have the vaccination.

'Actually a couple of them have been really emotional, to kind of say they are going to be able to see the family again, rather than just window visits which is how visits have been happening recently.

'It is history, it absolutely is, but I hope we never have to experience this again.'

Another patient at the Wellcroft Care Home, based near Gatley, Stockport, was seen covering her eyes as she was given a dose of the vaccine

Julie Veritiero, the manager of the 42-bed care home, said: 'I think it is a real pivotal moment at the end of a long journey.

'It will be an emotional journey not just for the family members but for us to be able to go and hug our own grandchildren and our own children again, without the risk of the worries that we are going to give them something or bring something back into the services.

'I personally feel quite humbled that the United Kingdom has sourced this vaccine so quick.'

Staff at the home have already been given both doses of the Pfizer vaccine but the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is easier to use and transport, as it does not have to be stored at sub-zero temperatures.

In Stockport, those in priority groups and not in care homes and who are housebound and cannot visit a GP themselves, will shortly be receiving either a call or a letter to arrange their vaccine appointment.

Elsewhere in the country, ten residents of the Sunrise of Frognal care home in Sidcup, south-east London, also received their first jab this afternoon.

100-year-old Ellen Prosser, who lives at the Sunrise of Frognal care home in Sidcup, south-east London, was among ten residents of the home to receive a jab today

Ellen Prosser, 100, was among the ten and she said receiving the vaccine was 'easy'. 

The widower and mother-of-six, who is known as Nell, said: 'It didn't hurt at all - I really didn't feel a thing. I'm very, very pleased, because it's been very well tested.' 

Dr Nikki Kanani, a GP and NHS medical director for primary care who carried out the vaccinations, said today had been an 'emotional day'.

She said: 'When we had our first patient vaccinated that was emotional, as we spread into more and more parts of the country that's emotional because our colleagues are working genuinely day and night to get this out.

All smiles: Widower and mother-of-six Ellen , who goes by Nell, said having the vaccine was 'easy' and that it didn't hurt at all

'Our general practice teams' nurses, pharmacists, people in front of the patient, but people either in the background doing the phone calls calling patients as well, people working on logistics - it's really quite incredible.'

Dr Kanani also appealed to people who have been approached about a vaccine to make sure they go and get them.

'The vaccines that have been approved by the regulatory body, the MHRA, have been tested really, really thoroughly,' she said. 'They've been tested on tens of thousands of people and now more than a million people have had their vaccination.

'It's really important that you get your vaccine because that is our hope, that is our chance to reclaim our lives, and that is the way that we're going to protect our loved ones as well.'