Australia’s first vaccine recipient, 84-year-old Jane Malysiak has added a touch of humour to the historic day, as she mistakenly made a rude two-finger gesture with Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
The aged care resident had just received her vaccine jab, when the PM asked her to make a ‘V’ for vaccine day gesture with her hand – Jane attempted to copy him but for a moment had her hand turned the wrong way, creating much laughter in the Castle Hill Medical Centre as waiting media captured the moment.
Jane – who received the jab yesterday morning – told the Today show she was “excited” to receive the virus and hadn’t reported any side effects so far, apart from “sleeping very well” last night.
“I loved it,” she laughed.
“He looks much nicer in real life than on television.”
“It was really nice, the interview, I really enjoyed it,” she said of chatting to the PM.
Jane has lived in Australia for more than 70 years, after surviving World War II in Europe. Born in a small town in Poland, she was taken to Germany as a toddler amid the war. As a young woman, she ran a corner shop in Sydney’s Earlwood with her husband.
She said she had no fear of the vaccine – saying it was “just a little jab”.
“Jane Malysiak has seen many historic days in Australia over the course of her more than 80 years of life,” Mr Morrison said.
“To have her here…this is an historic day for Australia.”
Vials of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine started arriving at local immunisation hubs across the country yesterday.
Mr Morrison also received his first dose of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine, along with Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly.
The plan is to vaccinate enough Australians by October that herd immunity is reached across Australia.
Meanwhile, Victoria has reported no new cases after more than 8,000 cases were conducted yesterday.
