Newlyweds, 90 and 86, get their Covid vaccines at converted former DIY store

A newlywed pensioner couple have urged everyone to get vaccinated as they became two of the first to get the jab at a new large-scale centre.

Geoff Holland, 90 and his 86-year-old wife Jenny were only marred in August after they met at the Town View independent living centre, where they live in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.

Mr and Mrs Holland said they both tested positive for coronavirus a couple of months ago after Mr Holland was feeling a bit under the weather and they got tested. But both got through it without developing major symptoms.

As they got their jabs of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in a cavernous former Wickes DIY store, Mr and Mrs Holland described how coronavirus has meant they only managed to marry in August at the third time of trying – and with just four guests to celebrate.

Mrs Holland said: “We’ve been well looked after while we’ve been here.”

She said: “People have worked long and hard to get this vaccine so I think people ought to have it.”

Mr Holland said: “We’ve only been married five months.

“We had to try three times with pandemic.

“We managed it on the third time.”

His wife said: “It was Geoff’s birthday at the beginning of April and we were going to celebrate that, his 90th, and, of course, that all went pear-shaped.

“And then we were going to get married on my birthday and that all fell through as well.

“We just kept making inquiries and then we got married at the register office.”

It comes as the country hit a record on Saturday for its vaccination rollout as Government figures showed 491,970 people across the UK received their first dose on Saturday, taking the total to more than 6.3 million on Sunday.

The Mansfield Vaccination Centre has joined 31 other new sites opening across England this week.

People aged 75 and over who live within a 45-minute drive of the centre are being invited to book their vaccination, the NHS said.

Amanda Sullivan, accountable officer for NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group said: “From the nurses, doctors and pharmacists to the cleaners, security guards and volunteers – it’s been a real round-the-clock effort to transform this site.

“Thank you to everyone involved.”