Northern Ireland vaccine chief to accept honour from Queen on behalf of team

The woman who led Northern Ireland’s Covid-19 vaccine programme said she will accept an honour from the Queen on behalf of the whole team. Patricia Donnelly is to be made an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. She described receiving the letter with the news as “really very emotional”. She was tasked in early October 2020 to lead Northern Ireland’s Covid-19 vaccination programme, and oversaw the administration of more than 3.7 million jabs before retiring at the start of April. It has been the largest vaccination programme in the region, but Mrs Donnelly said she was not daunted once she knew who was involved and their commitment.