Joan Collins receives ‘painless’ coronavirus vaccine

‘Dynasty’ star, 87, receives jab in London

Joan Collins thanked her doctors for the vaccine (Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

Dame Joan Collins has shared a photograph of herself on Instagram being vaccinated against coronavirus.

The 87-year-old actress and author received the AstraZeneca jab at London’s Bloomsbury Surgery on Saturday – which she noted was the same day as the Queen.

Dame Joan is among the first in line to receive the vaccine created at Oxford University, the first jabs of which were administered in the UK on Tuesday.

Writing to her 234,000 Instagram followers, the Dynasty star thanked those at the NHS vaccination hub for a “painless and seamless” procedure.

She concluded her post with hashtags saying “honoured” and “register now”.

Dame Joan is among around 1.5 million people who have now received their first vaccination dose in the UK, which started administering the Pfizer/BioNTech jab on 8 December.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said on Sunday that more than 200,000 jabs were being given in England every day.

He told the BBC that the government was on track to meet its mid-February target of vaccinating nearly 14 million people in the top four priority groups – which includes the over-70s, health workers, care home staff and residents, and the clinically vulnerable.

This week, more than 600,000 people aged 80 and over will begin receiving invitations to be inoculated at new large-scale vaccine centres around England, while just 200 of the UK’s 11,000 pharmacies will also be drafted in to help – after the government was accused of ignoring their offers of help.

Dame Joan is among a growing number of famous early recipients of the vaccine in the UK, including 81-year-old actor Sir Ian McKellen, singer Tom Jones, Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith, and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.