Buckingham Palace Queen Elizabeth in a video call released on Thursday.
Queen Elizabeth is all smiles talking about her experience with the vaccine.
In her first public appearance since her husband Prince Philip was hospitalized nine days ago, the Queen, 94, spoke in a video call released Thursday, using British colloquialism “the jab” to refer to the COVID-19 vaccination.
“It was very fast and I received many letters from people who were surprised at how easy it was to get the vaccine,” she said in a WebEx call with health leaders from the four nations that make up the UK “And the jab – it didn’t hurt at all.”
Buckingham Palace Queen Elizabeth speaks to UK health leaders on a video call.
The queen received her first injection of vaccination alongside her husband Philip, 99, in January. Philip was admitted to King Edward VII hospital in London last week and will be staying for several more days, the palace said earlier this week, adding that he was suffering from an “infection”.
RELATED: Queen Elizabeth has no plans to step down to allow Prince Charles to take the crown: ‘She’s fine’
The Queen spoke to the four Senior Responsible Officers (SROs) who oversee the delivery of the vaccine in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to hear about the collaborative effort that has led more than 18 million people across the Kingdom United to receive his first dose of a vaccine.
Dr. Emily Lawson, who leads the effort on behalf of the National Health Service (NHS) in England, told the Queen how health workers, government officials, volunteers and the armed forces worked together in all four nations to deliver the vaccine to all communities in the UK
The Welsh program chief, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Gillian Richardson, explained how a variety of health professionals, including dentists and pharmacists, are working to distribute the vaccine to all corners of the country.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip
About 1.5 million Scots have already been vaccinated, reported Derek Grieve, head of the Scottish Government’s Vaccination Division. The challenge is to ensure that those who live in remote areas are not excluded. Grieve told the Queen how cold storage facilities were secured in remote Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles for vaccines.
“If I could bottle this community spirit and use it not just for the vaccination program, but for other things, the job would be done,” added Grieve.
Northern Ireland’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Naresh Chada, shared how the teams have been working to deliver the vaccine to the most vulnerable, with residents of all 483 nursing homes now inoculated against the virus.
The Queen’s appeal was the most recent in the effort made by the royal family to show solidarity with vaccinators and volunteers who helped with the implantation. Prince William has already visited the vaccination center near his country house in King’s Lynn, Norfolk.
Don’t get tired of PEOPLERoyals coverage? Subscribe to our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!
Last week, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, met with volunteers who are conducting clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccinations at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
And Camilla also made contact with volunteers at a vaccination center in Wembley, in northwest London, this week.
On Thursday, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, took her first shift as an St. John Ambulance Volunteer at an NHS vaccination center. She joined a growing team of more than 10,000 volunteers who were trained and sent to NHS vaccination centers across the country, as part of an extraordinary collective effort.