VACCINATION

Woman at care home first to get Covid-19 vaccination in Sweden

A person holds a phial of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: Liam Mcburney/file photo.
Sweden was joining most other EU member states in rolling out the vaccine on Sunday, what the region's leaders are calling "V-Day."

Gun-Britt Johnsson was on Sunday the first person in Sweden to be vaccinated with the new coronavirus vaccine, jointly developed by the small German firm BioNTech and US pharma giant Pfizer.

The 91-year-old lives at a nursing home in Mjolby, 230 kilometres south-west of Stockholm.

"I didn't feel anything," she said after the jab, which was broadcast by public broadcaster SVT.

She said it was "a surprise" to be picked as the first in the country of 10.3 million to get the vaccine and had looked forward to it.

"It's good not to get sick," she said.

"A light in the darkness"

Johnsson was one of 69 at the care home who opted to take the jab.

Earlier, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said the vaccines represented "a light in the darkness" and was "a great grade for science and humanity."

In the pre-recorded statement he said that vaccinations would initially be given to the elderly, high-risk groups, and staff at care homes and in the health sector.

Sweden was joining most other EU member states in rolling out the vaccine on Sunday, what the region's leaders are calling "V-Day."