Scottish Spanish flu survivor receives coronavirus vaccine

Experience was ‘normal’, says 101-year-old Emily Lawson

A 101-year-old Scottish woman who lived through the Spanish flu pandemic a century ago has received the coronavirus vaccine.

Emily Lawson, who was born in 1919, was given the jab in her home town of Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, as part of a community vaccine rollout for the over 80s.

The centenarian, whose mother caught influenza in 1919 and was too ill to look after her, said the injection was “normal”, adding it was “just another vaccine”.

The NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the health board which administered Ms Lawson’s vaccine, is immunising 20,000 people per week against the virus with the help of 450 vaccinators.

It expects to give four times as many injections each week in February, as delivery is ramped up in line with the government’s target of vaccinating 15 million people by the middle of next month.

Dr Linda De Caestecker, the board’s director of public health, said the uptake of the vaccine was “very high” in the area so far.

Despite this positive news, the public health director warned that people should not let their guard down, as the NHS still faces severe pressure.  

As a result of increased admission rates, hospitals around the UK are increasingly overwhelmed, leading some to scale back or cancel surgery.

"We would urge everyone to continue following the rules to help minimise the spread of the virus,” said Dr Caestecker.

On Thursday, health secretary Matt Hancock confirmed that three million people have now received their first Covid-19 dose, tweeting to say he was “delighted” by the news.

However, there is still a long way to go to meet the government’s 15 million jab target, which will be met if more than two million doses are administered each week until mid-February.

In a bid to broaden the mass vaccination scheme, six local pharmacies in England became vaccine sites on Thursday, with hundreds of others scheduled to open soon.

The chief executive of Boots UK, Seb James, claimed half a million jabs could be given each week if 100 of their stores were used as vaccine centres.

Ministers are also looking at "possible options" to deliver the vaccine programme 24 hours a day, according to Downing Street.  

Additional reporting by PA