London's vaccine volunteers praised by NHS for their roll in the jab rollout
Vaccine volunteers in the capital have been praised for their “amazing” work in giving up hours of their time to help with the jabs rollout throughout 2021.
NHS England said volunteers who worked alongside healthcare staff had helped especially in facilitating the ramped-up rollout of jabs and boosters in December.
John Hardman, who has volunteered at jab sites in London including Wembley Stadium and the Science Museum, said he “can’t recommend it (volunteering) enough”.
The 38-year-old said: “I absolutely love volunteering for the vaccination programme – from greeting and guiding people, helping the elderly and keeping people company while they queue.
“There are lots of opportunities to support locally, even if just for a few sessions.”
Meanwhile, 67-year-old Penny Champion said she is “proud” of her role at her local vaccination centre in Lewisham, south-east London.
She said: “Every shift is different, and I’ve met some wonderful people and learned a lot about my own community. It would be great to have more friends and volunteers join us. You will enjoy it if you do.”
Paid vaccination roles across England have seen 17,500 people register their interest so far as the health service launched a recruitment drive in the face of the spread of the Omicron variant, NHS England said.
A further 48,000 people have registered as steward volunteers through the NHS Volunteer Responders programme in just over a month – of which more than 10,000 have already deployed.
Working alongside the NHS, St John Ambulance has seen 17,000 people come forward to do shifts as volunteer vaccinators.
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the efforts of volunteers would “undoubtedly help to save many more lives”.
She said: “Alongside NHS staff, our selfless volunteers have worked tirelessly to protect the nation – in football stadiums, shopping centres, Christmas markets and countless other vaccination sites up and down the country.
“I want to give my personal thanks to everyone who has given up their time to help us beat record after record – continuing to make the NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme the biggest and most successful in health service history.
“I’m sure the nation will join me in paying tribute to these amazing volunteers, whose efforts will undoubtedly help to save many more lives.”
NHE England said people interested in getting involved can search NHS vaccine team online.