Sheffield hospitals reveal the first people who will be getting the Covid-19 vaccine TODAY

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, which also runs the Royal Hallamshire, is one of more than 50 NHS hubs across the country chosen to deliver the Pfizer vaccine from today, Tuesday, December 8.

The trust has provided more information on who will be injected first, with a spokeswoman saying it will be ‘predominantly’ vaccinating patients aged over 80 who were already due to come in for appointments this week, with a ‘small number’ of staff also due to receive the vaccine.

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She was unable to say how many people are due to be vaccinated there this week, telling us such details were being ‘handled nationally’.

Margaret Keenan this morning became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 jab after it was approved for use in the UK, with the 90-year-old grandmother getting her jab at 6.31am from nurse May Parsons at her local hospital in Coventry.

The former jewellery shop assistant, who only retired four years ago, said she was looking forward to be able to go out again once she receives the top-up dose.

“I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against Covid-19, it’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the New Year after being on my own for most of the year,” she said.

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“I can’t thank May and the NHS staff enough who have looked after me tremendously, and my advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it – if I can have it at 90 then you can have it too!”

NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens called it a ‘remarkable achievement’ to have begun vaccinations less than a year after the first case of the new disease was diagnosed, and he thank everyone involved in marking that happen, from the scientists and doctors to the volunteers taking part in the trials.

“Today is just the first step in the largest vaccination programme this country has ever seen. It will take some months to complete the work as more vaccine supplies become available and until then we must not drop our guard,” he added.

"But if we all stay vigilant in the weeks and months ahead, we will be able to look back at this as a decisive turning point in the battle against the virus.”

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Patients aged 80 and above who are already attending hospital as an outpatient, and those who are being discharged home after a hospital stay will be among the first to receive the life-saving jab as part of the phased vaccination programme.

Care home providers are also being asked to begin booking staff in to vaccination clinics, with GPs also expected to be able to begin vaccinating care home residents.

Any appointments not used for these groups will be used for healthcare workers who are at highest risk of serious illness from Covid-19.