South Wales Echo

Carer becomes first person in UK to have Moderna vaccine

- ROD MINCHIN echo.newsdesk@walesonlin­e.co.uk

AN UNPAID carer has become the first Briton in the UK to receive the Moderna vaccine.

Elle Taylor, from Ammanford, got the jab at the West Wales General Hospital in Carmarthen.

The 24-year-old works at a further education college in Llanelli as well as caring for her 82-year-old grandmothe­r.

She received the jab from staff nurse Laura French at the hospital’s outpatient­s department.

Speaking afterwards, Miss Taylor said: “I’m very excited and very happy.

“I’m an unpaid carer for my grandmothe­r so it is very important to me that I get it, so I can care for her properly and safely.

“My grandmothe­r has had her first dose and she is going for her second dose on Saturday.”

Miss Taylor said she only found out on Tuesday evening that she was to be the first Briton to receive the Moderna jab in the UK.

“It was great, the nurses were lovely and it didn’t hurt,” she said.

She said she was aware of concerns about patients receiving the Oxford/ AstraZenec­a vaccine developing blood clots but was not worried.

“I had heard but it doesn’t concern me too much, and I guess if it happens, it happens and I am in the right care if I need it, and I feel happy that I’ve tried the new one,” she said.

Asked how she felt to be a trailblaze­r for millions of other people, Miss Taylor said: “I feel thrilled and really happy and honoured, and I just hope it goes well for everybody.”

The UK has bought 17 million doses of that vaccine – enough for 8.5 million people.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was “delighted we can start the UK rollout of the Moderna vaccine

I’m an unpaid carer for my grandmothe­r so it is very important to me that I get it so I can care for her properly and safely

Elle Taylor

in West Wales today”.

He added: “The UK Government has secured vaccines on behalf of the entire nation and the vaccinatio­n programme has shown our country working together at its best.” Wales Health Minister Vaughan Gething said: “This is another key milestone in our fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The roll-out will start in England “as soon as possible this month”, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said, but added that commercial sensitivit­ies prevent further disclosure­s.

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Tuesday that the Moderna jab would be deployed “around the third week of April”.

In Scotland, it is understood the roll-out of the Moderna vaccine has begun and is being administer­ed at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola

Sturgeon said the first batch of Moderna vaccines arrived in the country on Monday and will be delivered over the coming months.

It has not been confirmed when the roll-out of Moderna will begin in Northern Ireland.

More than 31 million first doses of either the Pfizer or AstraZenec­a vaccines have been administer­ed in the UK, according to Government data up to April 5, while more than five million second doses have been given out.

The trial of the Oxford/AstraZenec­a vaccine in children has been paused while regulators investigat­e reports of a rare form of blood clot among adults.

 ??  ??
 ?? Jacob King ?? Elle Taylor, 24, an unpaid carer from Ammanford, became the first person in the UK to receive an injection of the Moderna vaccine. It was administer­ed by nurse Laura French
Jacob King Elle Taylor, 24, an unpaid carer from Ammanford, became the first person in the UK to receive an injection of the Moderna vaccine. It was administer­ed by nurse Laura French

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom