To carry out the largest vaccination campaign in its history, the UK, hit hard by COVID-19 with nearly 100,000 deaths, has turned to tens of thousands of volunteers.
Sarah Glanville-Webber, a British Airways flight attendant who was fired in September, is one of them. “As I cannot fly, I chose to do something to make things go faster, to help in one way or another,” this young mother who lives in Reigate, about 30 kilometers south of London, tells AFP.
The country hardest hit in Europe by the pandemic, the United Kingdom suffered a spike in the number of infections at the end of the year, attributed to a more contagious variant of the coronavirus, and entered its third confinement.
In response to the health crisis, the Boris Johnson government has set a goal of vaccinating everyone over 70, health workers and people with frail health – 15 million in total – by February 15.
Volunteers, who were called upon primarily during the first wave to help vulnerable people with their purchases, are now called upon to participate in this large-scale vaccination operation.
The Sun newspaper, one of the UK’s most popular newspapers, launched a campaign to rally its readers to an “army” of public health service assistants and claims that 50,000 volunteers have responded.
– “In the same boat” –
To sign up, Glanville-Webber went to his local town hall.
He now alternates between helping firefighters deliver protective supplies to local hospitals and assisting the elderly at a vaccination center, where he watches for possible side effects after the injection.
“I like to listen to people, reassure them,” he explains, “we are all in the same boat.” And with the coronavirus, “the more we can help, the more hope we have of getting rid of it,” he adds.
One or two days a week, Sarah works five-hour shifts at this vaccination center. “He is very organized,” he says.
People are sometimes nervous, he explains, because some of the most fragile “have not left home in a year.”
“Seeing their faces light up is enormously satisfying,” he says.
Many old people compare the current situation with the Second World War: “a man told me that it is worse” because “the sirens cannot be heard” that announce a bombing and “you cannot hug someone like before”.
“They can do nothing more than sit alone in a room, watch television or look out the window, it is very hard for them,” explains this young woman, who over time hopes to receive adequate training and be able to administer vaccines.
– Path towards a certain normality –
Darren de Vally, who works in the associations sector of Manchester, also went through his city hall to sign up: he has volunteered to work in the centers run by the doctors of that city in the north of England referring patients.
After filling out an online form, they contacted him and asked for his availability.
“You need people to do these jobs and I am very happy that they tell me where to go and what to do,” he says. “If there is anything I can do, I make myself available as much as possible.”
During his first shift, he saw elderly people “delighted” to have the opportunity to get vaccinated and others who came carefully to explore the area before their appointment date to be ready when the day came.
He describes the place as a “positive” environment and the vaccination as a route to a possible return to normal life.
Thanks to the flexibility of telecommuting, Darren can be available one Friday out of two in addition to weekends.
In full confinement, “I am very happy to do this while I can,” he says, “as long as they need me.”
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