Thionville. Vaccination center: retired and hyperactive caregivers!

“Maybe we could isolate ourselves. The noise there is deafening. »Backpack, casual jeans and a mischievous look give Guillaume Pfeiffer a little student air. That it is not, or not, for a long time. This nurse is not turning 66, but he does. This nurse has been retired since October 2018, but he has been working at the municipal vaccination center since it opened on February 26. Guillaume cultivates paradoxes.

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He is one of the most precious “little hands” in the system: every morning, before the arrival of other health professionals, his role is to receive and package the first doses of vaccine. The Thionvillois is aware of this: on a planetary scale, he handles the most precious possession of the moment. “The act is delicate. It requires rigor and attention over a period of five hours; we will look for the last drops of vaccine on the sides of the vial. Why inflict such stress on yourself? The answer bursts forth, chanted like a slogan: “Caring one day, always caring!” “

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“Kiss my grandson”

After more than four decades of medical procedures, Elisabeth Cabirol returned her white coat as a hospital and laboratory nurse in 2019. Before spontaneously resuming service.

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“I registered on the ARS platform. When the center opened in my city, my incorporation happened naturally. All of my retirement activities are dormant, so I have time to give to others. “To give, a verb that she conjugates in all weather, even Covid.

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During the first confinement, Elisabeth took care of “two isolated grannies” housed in her building: “They were afraid of the virus. I brought them material and hygienic assistance. “At the municipal theater, she stings her neighbor, every day, in search of a better world:” What brings me here? The desire to live again and, above all, to finally be able to kiss my grandson without asking me questions. “

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“A crucial campaign”

“You’re kidding, it’s like riding a bicycle! It’s as if Violette Rampazzo, 67, has never stopped exercising. However, it has been a good twelve years since the former nurse at the Bel-Air Emergency Department inhaled the peaceful air of retirement. “Vaccinating is not complicated. It is a simple intramuscular injection, unlike the flu which is subcutaneous. “

The difficulty is more due to the repetition of the operation: “Nearly fifty bites per half-day,” she estimates. The pace is steady but in return, we derive a lot of pleasure from talking to people who have been vaccinated. […] I did not hesitate to stand as a candidate: this vaccination campaign is crucial, it is a public health approach. “

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“End this virus”

This face is familiar to those vaccinated today. The accent, deliciously Slavic, too. Doctor Ewa Wasilewicz is a figure of the city. She gave her life to general medicine before branching out into occupational medicine. At the age of 80, the practitioner, flirtatious, has just returned to… work. Sitting under one of the four tents reserved for the doctors, she welcomes the future vaccinated, checks their medical history and above all… reassures: “From a medical point of view, this population of vaccinated does not pose any problem: they are all retirees whose follow-up is perfectly insured. My role is mainly to remove the last fears before the injection. “

Ewa concludes by revealing the reasons for this putting on hold in her active retirement: “Put an end to this virus which impoverishes us all intellectually, culturally and sentimentally. “

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