A 90-year-old man from Chalfont St Peter has become the first in Bucks to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in what is being hailed as a "historic day for Buckinghamshire".

Brian Horne received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at the Hall Practice in the village, where he is a patient, as part of the national GP rollout of the vaccine which started this week.

Speaking afterwards, Mr Horne, who has three children and six grandchildren, said: “It is exciting, I feel most honoured. 

“I got a phone call from the surgery on Friday, they asked me to come along today and here I am.”

One of the things Mr Horne says he is looking forward to the most, other than being able to see his family, is going back to the ‘friendship lunch club’ that he has been involved with for the past 10 years. 

The club, run by St James' Church, provides a social way for the elderly who live on their own locally to meet up and enjoy each other’s company. 

Over the years Brian has been involved, it has grown with more than 100 people attending lunches across the month, but it had to stop running after the first lockdown in March.

He joked: “I’ve been redundant since March. I’ve missed it, as you get older you need to keep occupied so I am looking forward to going back.”

Having had his jab, Mr Horne says is delighted to be on his way to being protected from the virus and will be urging his friends to follow suit when they get the call to have their vaccine.

Nurse Helen Ellis, lead practice nurse of 23 years at the Misbourne Practice and part of the Covid-19 mobilisation team at the Chalfont Primary Care Network (PCN), gave Brian the potentially life-saving vaccine. 

She said: “It’s exciting to be part of this, we are making history. 

“I’m really proud of the role we are playing in both in the network and in primary care as a whole. We are the end of a long line of people who have made this happen. 

“I will remember this day for a long time. We are finally helping people to get their lives back after this devastating year.”

The phased national vaccination programme will see patients aged 80 and over among the first to receive the jab. 

The PCN has been given vaccines for the first wave of the programme, all of which will be given out to patients over the coming days and weeks.

Dr Nicky Turner, clinical director of the Chalfont PCN and GP of 23 years at the Hall Practice, said: “This is a historic day for Buckinghamshire and for the whole country. 

“We are delighted to be one of the first practices to be able to start vaccinating our patients against this deadly virus. 

“We are really proud at the way the whole team has mobilised so quickly. It has been a huge team effort over just a few short days with everyone pulling together to make this happen.”

Patients will be invited to come in for their vaccine and are being asked not to make contact with their surgery, but wait to be contacted.