Sheffield NHS worker hails ‘painless’ Covid-19 vaccine – but has a ‘bit of a sore arm’

The 64-year-old woman, who gave her name only as Janet, is a clinical coder at Royal Hallamshire Hospital and was one of the first in line for the vaccine as she is being treated for cancer.

She spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield yesterday before her appointment to get the jab, and has now given an update on how she is doing the day afterwards.

She told Toby Foster this morning (December 9): “It went very well. I got to the COVID vaccination centre at Northern General and filled out some forms and had a bit of a chat, then I had the jab and that was it.

NHS worker, 64, becomes one of the first people in Sheffield to get Covid-19 vaccine

“It was really painless. The whole process lasted five minutes. I’ve got a little bit of a sore arm this morning but that’s it.

When asked whether the vaccine meant she could immediately go out and hug her grandchildren, Janet said: “It doesn’t mean that, no.

"You apparently do get a little bit of protection from the first dose but you do really need the second dose to be fully protected.

"You can still catch COVID, but the symptoms are much less severe [after the vaccine].

"Until the majority of people have been vaccinated we just carry on as normal with the restrictions that we have got.”

The vaccines are given in two doses, with a three to four week wait in between each dose.

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"I have to go back in 28 days, so I am looking at the beginning of January,” Janet explained.

"[After that] I will not be immune I can still get it but the symptoms would not be as severe.

"Now it’s a matter of getting it rolled out to the majority of people and then taking it from there.”

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in one of the COVID vaccine ‘hubs’ that will store and distribute the Pfizer vaccine, which was approved by the Government last week.

The NHS rollout of the vaccine is the largest vaccination operation in the history of the service.