Michael McHugh and Rebecca Black, PA
Eileen Lynch (94) gave the thumbs up after becoming one of the first people in Northern Ireland to receive the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.
It was delivered at a GP surgery on the Falls Road in West Belfast this afternoon.
Up to 11,000 people aged over 80 are set to receive the jab this week.
A batch of 50,000 doses has been allocated and those aged over 80 will be prioritised initially.
The North has moved to accelerate delivery of the inoculation as the pace of the pandemic has picked up.
The new and more infectious variant of Covid-19 has been detected in Northern Ireland and the number of coronavirus infections has increased rapidly.
Chief medical officers across the UK have decided to delay delivery of the second shot of vaccines which has been criticised by the BMA’s Northern Ireland chairman Dr Tom Black, who said: “A delayed Pfizer second dose is a mistake. Everybody knows.”
The intention of delaying the second dose is so a greater number of people can receive the first jab, giving them partial protection, as quickly as possible to help stem the tide of cases.
Northern Ireland is in the second week of a six-week lockdown in which non-essential retail is closed.
