On the front line of the vaccination roll-out

Last July Ciara Brady StA'17 graduated with a degree in Law with Politics from Queens University, Belfast. The plan was to take a gap year to travel and work abroad but unfortunately due to COVID this was unable to happen. Here she tells us how she has been busy in her role on the front-line of the COVID vaccination roll-out:

It was my mum who encouraged me get involved in the administrative side of vaccination centres as being a nurse she was administering the vaccine. 

For the last six months, I have done everything from inputting data to ensure patients NHS records are kept up to date with their vaccines, to taking photos of patients having the vaccine 'to show the grandkids'. I’ve been out in the community, and also across our nine vaccination sites and mobile buses throughout Sussex and Surrey. No one day is the same; it has been intense but incredibly rewarding to help get so many people being vaccinated, and see the daily progress we are making. At the start of the roll-out, it was many people’s first trip out of their home since the start of the pandemic. We’ve come a long way since then, and witnessing the relief and gratitude from patients and family members is something I will never forget. It has shown how incredibly difficult this year has been for everyone.  

Each centre is very different, with it’s own unique way of navigating the unprecedented vaccine rollout. The manpower and sheer logistics behind every single day is an operation unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before and highlights the enormous team effort involved. I’ve also had the pleasure of working alongside a couple of Worth School Infirmary staff.  

Coming from a background in law, and never having worked for the NHS previously, I didn’t imagine my gap year looking like this but I have thoroughly enjoyed it! I love the buzz and positivity that surrounds working with such a diverse group of people. There’s no doubt this is one for the history books!