The roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine in care homes in the Vale of Glamorgan has begun.

Cartref Porthceri in Barry welcomed Cardiff and the Vale University Health Board's mobile vaccinations team.

Marijke Jenkins, Operational Manager for Residential Services, said: "I'm thrilled to see staff and residents receiving the COVID-19 vaccine together. The past 10 months have been so challenging for all of us and it's great to finally have some really positive action to help our residents."

Towerhill Care Home in Penarth became the first care home in the Vale to have all residents and staff vaccinated last week. Towerhill is home to 14 residents.

Peggy Nicholls, who is 87 and has lived at the home since Jan 2019, was one of the first to receive the jab.

She said "I think we're really lucky to have the vaccine. It makes me feel much safer to know I've had it. It didn't even hurt. The staff are lovely here and we have lots of fun together."

Beth Zehetmayr, Manager of Towerhill Care Home, said: "This is an incredibly happy day for everyone at Towerhill. After all that we have been through together we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Covid-19 has brought challenges for both staff and residents that we could never have expected but seeing their resilience and determination to make the most of life has been wonderful. I am absolutely delighted to be able to celebrate with them today.

"Our staff have been phenomenal throughout. The last year has been so tough but they have never stopped giving their all to make our give our residents the best possible quality of life.

"There is a huge network of people supporting our residents. As a care home manager my experience of the pandemic has been a positive one, where people work incredibly hard and go out of their way to help and support each other.

"We have had great support from the Vale of Glamorgan Council, the testing team, our colleagues in the health service, and many more.

"I hope that today now marks the beginning of the end and a big step back to normal life for all our residents."

Fiona Kinghorn, Executive Director of Public Health at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: "It is fantastic to see our vaccine roll out programme building pace and offering hope to our communities. "We are working closely with a whole range of partners to ensure that we vaccinate as many eligible people as quickly and as safely as possible. "Care home staff and residents fall into the top four priority groups, which are the focus of the first stage of our vaccination programme. "We have already vaccinated more than 1,700 care home staff and almost 350 care home residents through our mobile vaccination teams and we are committed to vaccinating all care home residents and health and social care staff by the end of January."