A centenarian who has already beaten coronavirus was the first resident at a care home in Belfast to receive a COVID-19 vaccination on Wednesday, as Northern Ireland's rollout gathers pace.
Ethel Sinclair, who was diagnosed with the disease shortly before her 100th birthday, gave a thumbs-up and a wave after receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
"I hope it brings back my taste and smell," Ms Sinclair said. "I lost my taste for food, and I was a good eater."
About 70 staff at Bradley Manor Care Home, a purpose-built dementia home, received their injections on the same day.
HR and business manager Karen Fleming said there had been "a wave of emotions in the last few weeks" as care assistants and nurses realised the vaccine was about to be approved.
"You'd like to see families being able to visit again, and loved ones seeing their families and getting back to some sort of normality," she said.
"It's been a long hard year for the residents and for families. It's very hard not being able to see your mum and dad, and all the staff realise that and that's why there was such good uptake today for all the staff getting their injections."
Eileen McGrugan, 79, was another resident receiving her vaccination. She too has battled COVID-19 already, having received supplementary oxygen for two weeks and suffering a heart attack during her bout with the disease.
Her daughter Jacqueline Mason said the toughest part of the last year was "not being able to touch her or hold her".
She added: "Like many families - it's been very difficult, because mummy's a very tactile person, she likes to be touched."
Jacqueline got on the wrong bus for her visit, which meant she nearly missed her 30-minute window.
After she broke down in tears, the Translink bus driver, known only as Alex, apologised to the other passengers and diverted the bus so she could see her mum.
