Filipino nurse gives 1st COVID vaccine to 90-year-old woman

A nurse rolled up 90-year-old Margaret Keenan’s sleeve and administered a shot watched round the world -– the first jab in the U.K.’s COVID-19 vaccination program kicking off an unprecedented global effort to try to end a pandemic that has killed 1.5 million people.

That nurse was May Parsons, a nurse originally from the Philippines who has worked for the NHS for 24 years. Footage showed the shot being administered and also Keenan having a cup of tea with Parsons and another nurse afterwards.

Keenan's vaccination by Parsons was watched the world over and in her native Philippines, fellow nurses felt a deep sense of pride.

Peter Jonathan dela Cruz, a Nurse Manager at Manila's Heart Institute - St. Luke's Medical Center said he felt "extra proud" to be Filipino and to be a nurse when he learned Parsons had been chosed to administer the first shot.

"I believe that says a lot about how, about the reputation of Filipino nurses abroad," he said.

But dela Cruz said the episode showed that while the Philippinnes is "one of the biggest providers of the best nurses in the world," it also highlighted that that Filipino nurses still have to go outside of the country to look for better opportunities.

"Nurses also have to support ourselves and our families," dela Cruz said. "So it's a prime mover for nurses, the consideration to work abroad and be able to support their families here."