Saving Granddad: student nurse administers Covid-19 vaccine to her grandfather

Family joy at chance appointment in Abu Dhabi-owned ExCeL Centre in London

Charlotte Taylor administers the Covid-19 vaccine to her grandfather David Taylor at the ExCeL Centre in east London. Barts Health NHS

A midwifery student was reunited with her grandfather in London after more than a year apart.

Charlotte Taylor, 26, administered the Covid-19 vaccine to her granddad David Taylor after the pair had remained socially distant since the pandemic began.

The chance encounter occurred at the Abu Dhabi-owned ExCeL Centre in east London, which has been reconfigured as a mass vaccination centre.

Ms Taylor, a final-year student at City, University of London, had been working at the centre to "do her bit to protect the most vulnerable" from coronavirus.

But she was stunned when she saw her grandfather David, 82, waiting in line to receive the shot at the stall in which she was working.

She said that the encounter added to the “great atmosphere” at ExCeL.

“People are very happy and grateful to be receiving the vaccine,” she said. “It is also great to meet other vaccinators, from paramedics, to volunteers, to nurses and doctors, to medical students like me. We’re all doing our bit to protect the most vulnerable from contracting this virus."

Mr Taylor said that receiving the vaccine from his granddaughter was a special moment.

“Everyone there was so friendly and helpful. Thank you to everyone working at vaccination centres – you are lifting our spirits and bringing our lives back to some sort of normality,” he said.

More than 13 million people in the UK have received a first dose of the vaccine to date, with about 520,000 people receiving a second dose, according to government data.

Charlotte Taylor with her grandfather David Taylor. Barts Health NHS

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Thursday that uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine in the UK has exceeded expectations with more than 90 per cent of eligible adults choosing to take it.

The British government had assumed that only 75 per cent of adults would accept the vaccine when offered.

The UK has administered a total of 20 vaccine doses per 100,000 people, while the UAE has given 47 doses per 100,000, according to Oxford University data.