AN elderly volunteer for Royal Preston Hospital has become the first person in Lancashire to be administered with the coronavirus vaccine.

This comes with both Blackpool Teaching Hospitals and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust among the first 50 hospital hubs in England where Covid-19 vaccines will be administered in the initial wave of the immunisation programme.

Doreen McKeown, 81 of Preston, will be the first of many more to receive the vaccine from Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which includes Royal Preston and South Ribble Hospitals.

A spokesperson for the trust said: "We're so proud to have given our first Covid-19 vaccination to 81-year-old Doreen McKeown at 7.20am this morning at Royal Preston Hospital.

"Doreen is one of our volunteers so we are delighted to give something back to someone who gives us so much."

Moments later, 82-year-old Agnes Lovett from Lytham became the first to be vaccinated at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

A spokesperson Blackpool Hospitals Teaching Trust said: "We're proud to have given our first Covid-19 vaccination to 82-year-old Agnes Lovett from Lytham St Annes who praised our excellent staff and even brought them some lovely biscuits."

Lancashire Telegraph:

Agnes Lovett receiving her vaccine

The vaccination programme is set to continue across the country over the coming weeks and months.