A Dutch nurse became the first person in the Netherlands to receive a Covid-19 shot as one of Europe's last vaccination programmes for the new coronavirus got underway after a late start, Reuters reported.

Sanna Elkadiri, a 39-year-old who cares for dementia patients at a care home in the east of the country, received a shot of the Pfizer vaccine on live television.

“This is the beginning of the end of this crisis,” said Health Minister Hugo de Jonge at a brief ceremony.