Dublin woman (95) becomes first nursing home resident in the State to be vaccinated Maura Byrne lost her husband to Covid-19 and survived the disease last year
Tue, Jan 5, 2021, 15:52 Updated: Tue, Jan 5, 2021, 16:30
A 95-year-old Dublin woman, who lost her husband to coronavirus, has become the first nursing home resident in the country to receive a Covid-19 vaccination.
Maura Byrne, who survived the disease, received the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at Hollybrook Lodge, the residential care unit managed by St James’s Hospital in Dublin.
The State-run care facility in Inchicore is the first nursing home in the country to receive vaccinations. Ms Byrne was the first resident at the care home to be vaccinated on Tuesday.
Elmhurst Nursing Home in Glasnevin confirmed that 21 residents and five staff had tested positive for coronavirus.
The home, which is part of the Highfield Healthcare group, said it had been dealing with the outbreak since the first case was identified on December 21 during routine serial testing.
The death of one resident has been confirmed as coronavirus-related, while the death of a second resident is being treated as a probable coronavirus-related death and is expected to be reported as one later this week.
The home has 46 residents and there are 40 staff members.
A spokesperson for Elmhurst confirmed its residents are due to receive the Covid-19 vaccine later this month but declined to comment further.