‘We can see light at end of tunnel’
NHS boss Sir Simon Stevens has thanked the first nurse in the UK to give a Covid-19 jab to a patient outside a clinical trial.
May Parsons made history when she vaccinated Maggie Keenan, now 91, on December 8.
Sir Simon yesterday saluted staff who have now immunised nine out of 10 people aged 70 and over.
He said: “It is thanks to fantastic staff like May the NHS is delivering Europe’s fastest and largest Covid vaccination programme.”
Sir Simon was speaking at University Hospitals
Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust alongside May, a matron from the Philippines who has worked in the NHS for 24 years.
May said it was a huge honour to be the first to play her part, adding:“The last few months have been tough for all of us, but it feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel as the numbers of vaccinations rapidly increase.
“I am immensely proud of the way our hospitals and the wider NHS are continuing to pull together.”
PLANS for vaccine passports that could save summer holidays are being considered by ministers.
The critical Covid-O Cabinet committee is looking at proposals for a system that could ease international travel. There is no date yet for when it might start.
But a Government source said the UK is “working closely” with nations across the world so there would be an “internationally recognised” approach.
Non-essential foreign travel is currently illegal, and new border rules with quarantine hotels for all arrivals from high-risk countries are due to come into force on Monday.
Meanwhile, Downing Street insists its hotel quarantine policy is secure and “in line” with other countries.
Holed-up travellers will be allowed to leave their rooms with a guard.
But an Australian epidemiologist warned that is “very risky”.
Professor Michael Toole said rules in there were tightened to reduce airborne transmission – suggesting England should do the same.
He added that there were cases where an infected guest opened their door and “with the positive pressure, this fog of virus went out into the corridor, travelled down and infected hotel staff”.
Home Office minister Victoria Atkins said it was “reasonable” to allow travellers quarantining in hotels a “gulp of fresh air”.