The first patients in Cumbria have received a coronavirus vaccine in a historic day for the county.

Today marks the first day of the national rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, with the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven one of the first to administer the first approved vaccine against Covid-19.

The first patient in Cumbria to receive the vaccine was 80-year-old Agnes Hardy, from Kells in Whitehaven.

Staff from North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Trust Cumbria are administering the vaccine to those in the government’s priority groups, including those over 80, care home staff and frontline staff.

The vaccine needs to be stored at incredibly low temperatures and the facilities to do that were only available at the West Cumberland Hospital.