Just minutes after becoming the first person in Malta to get vaccinated for COVID-19, Rachel Grech wants everyone to know that she’s fine and that they should get vaccinated if they can. 

Grech, who is a staff nurse at the infectious diseases unit at Mater Dei hospital, got the jab on Sunday morning after the first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech arrived in Malta on Saturday. 

Speaking to Times of Malta, Grech said that it was an honour to be one of the first people chosen to get inoculated and she hoped that she could encourage people to take the vaccine when they get the opportunity to do so. 

“I think it’s very important that we’ve done this,” Grech said. 

“We’re living in troubled times because of the Coronavirus pandemic and I hope people out there get the message and get vaccinated.”

Having been on the front line with patients infected with COVID-19, Grech said that while taking the jab might mean suffering some side effects, it was nothing compared to being directly affected by the disease. 

“I work with COVID positive patients and I know what the effects of the virus has left on these people,” she said.

“So considering everything, when you measure side effects of the vaccine, which are flu-like symptoms; joint pains or headaches, that’s just a little bit of suffering when compared to catching the coronavirus.”

Despite the ups and downs of being a nurse during a global pandemic, Grech said that for her and many of her colleagues the challenge had renewed a sense of pride among medical professionals. 

“We've been working hard during these months, all the nurses and healthcare teams. I think starting with us was the best choice because we’re frontliners and we need to stay strong in order to keep taking care of patients,” Grech said.

“Its been an experience with ups and downs. Pandemic was something totally new for us. You have to wear a lot of PPE.”

“But we’ve learned so much and we are more proud of our profession as we’ve helped a lot of people during their suffering and it helped us grow as a team.”