Coronavirus crisis latest
Stirring message from ‘Super Gran’ aged 90 who’s first to receive vaccine
THE grandmother aged 90 who became the first person to receive the covid vaccine jumped at the chance, her grandson said yesterday
Conor Maton said despite being just 4ft 10in, Margaret Keenan was a ‘larger than life’ character who wanted to do what she could to help get the country back on track.
And after she had the jab, Mrs Keenan declared: ‘If I can have it at 90 then you can have it too.’
Mr Maton, 29, said Strictly Come Dancing fan Mrs Keenan was much younger than her years and was working in a jewellers until six years ago before falling ill – not with Covid – and being admitted to hospital a few days ago.
After r ecovering well, Mrs Keenan, who is due to celebrate her 91st birthday next week, received the vaccine from nurse May Parsons at University Hospital in Coventry at 6.31am yesterday. Known to family and friends as Maggie, Mrs Keenan said: ‘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 added: ‘I can’t thank May and the NHS staff enough, and my advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it.’
Mrs Keenan had been isolating since March. Mr Maton said having the jab means she can now celebrate her birthday with those in her bubble and see her family at Christmas.
Mr Maton, who lives around the corner from his grandmother in Coventry, said: ‘We’re really proud of her. The fact that she’s 90 years old – 91 next week – will hopefully give other people confidence to have the jab.
‘It sums her up because she’s a wonderful woman. She’s always been Super Gran to us.’
Her proud son Philip Keenan, an electronics expert at Cambridge University, described her as a ‘little person with a heart of gold’.
Mr Keenan, 61, said: ‘She is determined to live beyond 100 and has done everything possible to protect herself.
‘She’s a very sociable person and it has been hard for her to lose that contact with people during the pandemic. She has bubbled with my sister and her family in Coventry, but otherwise mum has not left her house since March, up until her admission to hospital.’
Mrs Keenan, who was widowed in 2007, will receive a booster jab in 21 days’ time to ensure she has the best chance of being protected against the virus.
NHS nurse Mrs Parsons said it was a ‘huge honour’ to be the first person in the country to deliver a Covid-19 jab to a patient. ‘The last few months have been tough for all of us working in the NHS, but now it feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel,’ she added.