ANGEL St John is the first Hunter healthcare worker to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
The assistant nurse was among four frontline health workers from the Hunter invited to receive the Pfizer vaccine at Sydney's Liverpool Hospital on Wednesday.
The Belmont Hospital staff members were chosen to receive the vaccine in week one of the rollout after being deemed at greater risk of exposure to the virus.
Ms St John, who works in the hospital's COVID-19 clinic swabbing and screening patients for symptoms, said she had "no hesitations" about getting the first of two doses of the vaccine.
She felt privileged, and reassured, to be the first person in the Hunter New England district to receive it.
'I was very excited to get it. I had no doubts at all," she said.
"I jumped at the opportunity.
"It didn't hurt. I was surprised, because I'm not usually a big fan of needles. But I didn't feel a thing.
"I feel that extra sense of security now that I've been vaccinated.
"Being on the frontline and actually seeing these sick people coming in to be swabbed, I understood how serious it was."
Ms St John, 19, said she had been conscious of keeping her distance from her family members after returning home from work each day.
The vaccination process in Sydney had been "smooth".
Ms St John has to return for a second dose on March 17.
"They make you feel very safe when you go in, they do observation after you've had the needle, and they keep you in for 15 minutes afterwards to make sure nothing is wrong," she said.
"It was a good experience.
"They said I might get pain or swelling at the injection site, or get tiredness, a headache, muscle pain, fever and joint pain - but I haven't had any of that."
The Hunter awaits confirmation of a start date for the local vaccination rollout.
But John Hunter Hospital will be among the first 11 hubs in NSW to deliver the vaccine locally.
"Plans are now being finalised for Hunter New England Health staff to received the vaccine in the coming weeks," Ms St John said.
"But more information will be provided in the coming weeks regarding the rollout."
