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I know there were a few on here. Still going? Still enjoying it?
I'm still doing one or two shifts a week, I had a bit of a fallow period after I finished training around March/April time, but after that things ramped up and I've had plenty of shifts since.
I did a lot of shifts in a big mass vaccination centre but more recently I've been working in a small pharmacy led centre in a Methodist church. Very different and pros and cons to each, but I really enjoy the slower pace and opportunity to chat more to the 'customers' in the church setting.
Overall it's been hugely rewarding and I've been surprised by how much I've loved it. Without exception the people I've worked with, professional and volunteers have been brill. I look forward to every shift and will be sad when it finishes, but proud to have been part of such a massive national effort. Every shift has included tears, laughter, fear, joy, gratitude, relief and the odd feinting!
I get a massive kick when I manage to reassure someone who is reluctant or needle phobic and see the relief after they get their jab or even if they are a bit nonchalant and just say 'thanks' or 'that wasn't so bad'.
I'm going to miss it when it ends but it's given me a real taste for volunteering.
How is everyone else getting on?
Pressure has dropped off substantially here, so for a number of additional reasons as well, I've decided to bail out from the programme for now. It has been a long haul since starting at the end of January, in a hefty snowstorm that day and as you say, very rewarding on many levels.
I do a lot of volunteer medic duties at events anyway and as many of these are now coming back on stream, doing vaccination shifts has been a way of continuing with making contributions here and there. If it gets desperate again further along I'll come back.
SJA who I'm with are flagging up other roles within the org for when the vaccination program winds up, first aider being the obvious one but quite a few others. It doesn't appeal particularly so I may look elsewhere, but I definitely plan to volunteer in some capacity, somewhere. Just not sure where yet.
Winding down here in N Yorks, whether due to lack of demand or lack of appropriate vaccine for younger clients is another debate. Coverage locally is v high as the population is so old!
It’s been a bit tedious TBH but needed doing and I’m hardly to most helpful and socially active person so thought I ought to make the effort this time.
I had my second jab last week and it was slick from the moment I drove in to the moment I left.
You guys are part of the reason why it's gone so well. So a massive thanks from me for giving up your time. All the volunteers I spoke to were really helpful and happy. Those who helped administer my jabs made me feel calm as I am petrified of needles.
Still going? Still enjoying it?
Yes, Can't say I enjoy it...The oldies were (dare I say it?) fun..frankly, when we kicked off there was a bit of "blitz" spirit to it all, some of the old folk hadn't been out for ages, and they were clearly relieved and generally happy. Everyone was revved up and eager to get going. Last shift I did was last Sunday and it was a damp squib and we closed early. We're all knackered and tired of it, and we all "know" (but it's never really said) we're going to have to give everyone a booster at some point towards late Autumn early Winter. It feels a bit endless.
Thanks to all of you!
@nickc I do get the fatigue thing, but I've never worked enough shifts for it to be a big issue for me. I'm retired and the most I've ever done has been three half day shifts in one week. More usually it's one or two, so although it is a bit mentally tiring and I am usually ready to stop when a shift ends, I've never felt properly knackered. Things have slowed up a bit in the last few weeks, the venue I work at accepts walk-ins as well as pre-booked, so it can be a bit erratic and unpredictable, periods of twiddling your thumbs followed by manic half hours.
The mass vaccination setting I worked at is closing on Friday, the pharmacy setting I'm currently at is closing in early September. It will be interesting to see how the booster programme works. Will they reopen the temporary sites or will they all be done on NHS premises by full time NHS staff? I'd be happy to carry on if we are still needed.