MOST vaccinations are obscured from prying eyes, delivered behind a bed screen or a surgery curtain.

But a simple jab in the arm of a Canberra nurse was shared throughout the nation’s capital – and the accompanied media throng.

The first injection to protect against COVID-19 in the ACT was captured for posterity.

Maddy Williams was all smiles, sitting patiently for cameras that huddled inside the Garran COVID-19 Surge Centre on Monday (February 22).

The shutters flashed and echoed rapidly around the room amid loud cheers and applause.

Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt had a front row view to the inoculation.

“Just another average day in the office for Maddy,” Mr Hunt joked that got a few laughs, after staring intensely at the procedure.

Except she will have to wait another 21 days for a second Pfizer vaccination.

The Canberra health worker, who has been testing ongoing cases for coronavirus at the centre next to Canberra Hospital, waited nearly a further hour to talk to the media.

The moment in time was not lost on the patient.

“I will have to tell my kids when I have them,” she said.

There was no side affects. Nor were there any super powers from the needle.

But the smile may have got even wider.

In the spotlight of a private interaction with a colleague, the 22-year-old felt pretty content basking in what was a relief for the frontline nurse.

“When you have a normal vaccination for your flu shots, it just feels no different,” she said.

“I actually felt it was better than my normal vaccine.”

Nobody was more deserving to be protected from the virus after stepping into her rookie nursing job and straight into the COVID-19 front line.

That stewardship will continue, turning her steady hand to administering the vaccine next.

“It was really exciting news and it was really awesome to know that I was the start of helping to create this pathway of covid vaccination,” she said.