Lewisham Vaccination Stories

Devon is a volunteer at the Waldron in New Cross.

The pandemic has been so difficult for everyone in a whole variety of ways, and the incredible vaccine rollout in the UK has given everyone much needed hope. I have been keen to contribute to the efforts in whatever way possible, but it had been difficult while working full-time in finance. I decided to step back to a part-time role in May, and I have been so happy to get involved with the vaccination effort in Lewisham with my extra time.

Everyone at Waldron has such great energy and enthusiasm, from the medical staff to the volunteers to the patients coming to get vaccinated. It has been a humbling experience working with people from all walks of life, and a refreshing change from the world of finance.

I love seeing the doctors and nurses do such an incredible job reassuring patients who are nervous and watching them leave with a huge smile across their face. I have truly enjoyed doing my part – whether directing patients to the vaccination rooms, entering their details in the NHS system, or writing out their vaccination cards – and being a part of the vaccination effort has been such a rewarding experience.

Wendy is a volunteer at St. John’s in Lewisham.

I wanted to do something active — having felt a sense of powerlessness for much of the pandemic period, at just this time I was asked by a fellow tour guide colleague, Sophie, that our local vaccination needed volunteers. She knew I was a Girl Guide leader and therefore had an up-to-date DBS. Her suggestion gave me the confidence to apply.

I have a sense of belonging to my community and doing the right thing for everyone. I want to be part of some action that lets us all get back to normal.

What’s surprised me most is how some people felt so liberated after receiving their vaccination, having lived such isolated and lonely lives for almost a year.

I was surprised at the diversity within my local area; not ethnicity, but how many older people could not communicate in English.

I was also surprised that so many people had mobility issues and how many people needed support in order to attend the clinic. I was surprised and heartened how upbeat and friendly the volunteers have all been, and that every session has been enjoyable.

I’ll always remember some lovely people who came for their jabs; happy and wanting to have a chat, but being really grateful that a vaccine had been rolled out so effectively. And meeting some very welcoming and friendly volunteers and working as a team.

Lisa is a volunteer at Downham, St. John’s, and the Waldron.

I started volunteering in January 2021. Two reasons: I wanted to give back to NHS as a yearly screening program I have been on since I was 25 years old saved my life. Secondly, I knew that if we had lots of people helping out, we as a country would get this moving quickly and efficiently, getting all our lives back to normal. All being healthy and safe being a main priority.

I have really enjoyed all the different people I’ve met and what a positive experience it has been. Seeing people happy to be vaccinated has been personally rewarding. I’ve also learnt things about myself. Helping others is incredibly rewarding. I hope to continue in some way in the future.

Ian is a volunteer at the Waldron. 

My daughter and I volunteered out of a public-spirited ethos, to be of service; and we really got a lot from it. We were especially impressed by the GPs working so hard.

I will most remember the octogenarians coming in. Such a range of people — a kind of living history of London. Irish women who enjoyed some banter (“I’m sorry but we’re not vaccinating people in their 40’s today,” I’d say, to which they’d say something like “Ooh can I marry you?”); proud Jamaican men, telling me their favourite cricketers; old Deptford working-class couples; and even some Blackheath bohemians. A privilege.

Steven is a volunteer vaccinator at Downham, the Jenner, and the Waldron. 

I decided to volunteer because I was in a miserable funk at the beginning of the year, and wanted to do something where I could make a very quick and recognisable impact to a lot of people. I didn’t expect it to be so rewarding, and I certainly didn’t imagine that I’d end up training to be a vaccinator too.

I’ve learned so much, and met so many lovely people, and I feel like I’m part of something really important. I’ve also engaged with people in my community that I wouldn’t normally cross paths with in my normal day-to-day life, which has been really encouraging as well.

I’ll always remember the day I administered my first jab, having been terrified of needles at the beginning of the year. I’ll always remember that drinking tea through a mask is akin to waterboarding yourself with boiling liquid.

Mark Brown talked to Dr Sebastian Kalwij at the Waldron Health Centre in New Cross in June 2021.

TRANSCRIPT

Mark Brown: This is Mark Brown for Lewisham Vaccination Stories. I am deep in the heart of the Waldron vaccination clinic. I’m here with…

Sebastian Kalwij: Sebastian Kalwij. I’m a GP in Amersham Vale Practice and also the Clinical Director for North Lewisham PCN, Primary Care Network.

Continue reading Seb — “The joint effort to attack this pandemic, that’s something that I will remember.”

Danny is a volunteer shift leader at the Downham Vaccination Hub.

I signed up to volunteer because I needed to help in some way to combat this pandemic, and what better way than to be able to help my community with this vaccination program.

I think of the feeling of happiness and pride knowing that every time I do a day of work I am helping to protect the health and life of many people.

What surprises me the most is the people working with me: their responsibility and professionalism with this job is impeccable. I will never forget this experience, and how proud I feel to say I was part of this program and I helped to battle this virus.

Mark Brown spoke with Lulu at the Waldron Health Centre in New Cross in June 2021.

 

TRANSCRIPT

MB: This is Mark Brown for Lewisham Vaccination Stories and I am deep in the heart of the Waldron Clinic Vaccination Centre, and I’m here with…?

L: Lulu.

MB: Lulu, I think you have been involved quite intimately as your job in this whole effort. What have you been up to and how has it all been?

Continue reading Lulu — “Having this vaccination is taking away that feeling of helplessness for a lot of people”

Liz M is a volunteer at Downham and St. John’s. 

I decided to help with the vaccination effort for several reasons. First of all, I’d just left work and was looking for an opportunity to volunteer in a capacity that would help people. Secondly, I was obviously aware of what an enormous undertaking it was to vaccinate the entire nation, and how much the health service would be depending on volunteers to get the vaccine to as many people as possible, so I wanted to play a part.

I also loved the fact that I would be doing something to help in my local community, to make being vaccinated a celebration of sorts, and to make the experience a smooth and calm one especially for those who are nervous, unsure or vulnerable. And as vaccination is the only safe way out of this terrible pandemic, volunteering at a centre seemed an important thing to do.

Every time I volunteer I work with mostly new people, yet we all slot into our various roles seamlessly to create a great team that makes the shift run amazingly smoothly and allows us to vaccinate literally hundreds of people at a time.

What’s surprised me most? The size of the operation. On my first shift I was just overawed at the hundreds of people coming through the doors to be vaccinated – literally hundreds more than I’d seen in a year of lockdown – and how this was being replicated at thousands of centres around the UK. It felt incredible to be part of such an enormous effort that also has tremendous longevity until everyone receives two jabs.

What I you think I’ll always remember? The gratitude of the public towards us volunteers. I was taken aback the first time a woman said to me: “Thank you for all that you’re doing.” It didn’t feel that I was doing that much by watching over the observation room. But I guess it’s all those small acts that make the huge difference, and to have that recognised by a member of the public was unexpected, inspiring, and very humbling.

Mark Brown spoke with volunteer and NHS worker Khalid at a pop-up vaccination event at the Islamic Centre in Lewisham in June 2021.

 

TRANSCRIPT

MB: This is Mark Brown for Lewisham Vaccination Stories, on a very, very, very hot mid-June afternoon at Lewisham Islamic Centre. I am here with…

KR: Khalid Rahman.

MB: So, Khalid, what is it you are doing here today?

KR: Today I am volunteering with Lewisham Islamic Centre. This is our second clinic that we have opened up to vaccinate our community. Not only our community but other communities also. So depending on if you heard our advertisement, you can come from another borough, and we are happy to vaccinate you, too, but we do prioritise with our community.

The first clinic, it was a very successful clinic. We vaccinated over 200 people. We had to turn away a lot of people, and that tells you that at the time there was a huge demand of the people that needed it.

This is my second time I am volunteering today. Volunteering for such a clinic, it is a personal thing for me, really, because I actually work for the NHS. I work on the medical admissions unit, at an NHS hospital. What we have experienced in the last 18 months or 18 months ago was a real eye-opener in terms of just the whole structure of the NHS, just our users in terms of patients, the situation that we were faced with in terms of this new virus that came upon us, and just dealing with that, actually.

This is my second time I am volunteering for Lewisham Islamic Centre, to run this clinic. It has been a second successful clinic. However, compared to the first clinic I feel that most of the bracket, age group, that was supposed to be vaccinated has more or less had their first vaccine and even had their second.

So we are at a stage in our country where it is kind of at a standstill, because we need to concentrate more on the under-30s and below now. So that is why it is a bit more of a slow pace, I believe.

MB: So what do you reckon puts people off coming for their vaccination?

KR: That can be for various reasons. Firstly, I mean it has been 18 years [sic] since we have been in this situation. So coming from a place where you could fall into an argument with either close friends, family members, or just normal strangers, you can’t be having a conversation with family members or people that you know and keep going through that. So what you do is someone has got to stop.

So at the beginning of it, I did used to get into little debates, discussions, and they used to turn a little bit heated because one person is one way and the other person is the other end. Everyone has got an opinion. The only thing is what opinions matter? That is what you have got to ask yourself.

So, usually, every time someone has had a real negative perception or is even really vocal in terms of speaking out against the vaccine, just dislodging it totally or not acknowledging it at all, it is in those circumstances where, even up to today, I will get involved and say my opinion. It is important that we don’t allow people to diss what has happened, or just make it hearsay, to say, “It is all made up,” “It is fake,” “The virus didn’t exist,” whatever people want to say. I am not going to allow that to happen. I am not going to disrespect all the people that lost their lives.

Yes, so I wouldn’t disrespect anyone in terms of the people that have suffered in the 18 years. So it is because of that reason, I will always have an opinion because I work on a medical admissions unit, like I said, and in my 11 years of working with the NHS I have never witnessed such an environment which was of — When I have to think about it now or talk about it, it was close to like a war — In terms of emotions and frantic and the noise level, it was just like a war zone, but just without the blood.

So you can imagine what a war zone can be like. Our ward was exactly like that, just with no blood. So it was nothing that was made up. That is definitely something true.

MB: I think it has been a horrible, horrible time. Have you had your vaccination?

KR: So, again, I have actually had– I will just answer it quickly. I have had both my vaccinations. I wasn’t someone– My mother, bless her, she was one of those hard hit, and still is, because she has always taken it seriously, and maybe more than others because we are at the other end of the spectrum where people are mentally scarred also. So it has taken a longer time for people to go about their normalities–their independence.

Mum fits into that bracket. So Mum was one of the first people to have her vaccinations. The people that had their vaccinations first are the people that we should look up to as a community because these were the first brave people to step up, forward, and put themselves up there, to say, “This is best for society,” and they are going to lead by example.

I actually had mine because I promised my mum the night before she had hers. I promised her, “Don’t worry, Mum.” At that time, everyone was a little bit apprehensive about the vaccine, or even up to today, which is June 2021, we still don’t know everything about the vaccine and we still don’t know everything about the virus. So it was just a case of, “Mum, don’t worry.” When it is time for me to have my vaccine, I promised her I am going to have mine.

So that was the ultimate reason why I had mine. Not only that. It was just safe for me to have it because I am on the front line, exposed to– My ward that I worked on was a red ward at the time, so it was just to protect myself and loved ones or anyone around me.

MB: That is amazing. So to put a slightly happier complexion on things, what are you looking forward to getting back when we kick the butt of this horrible disease?

KR: Life, for me hasn’t changed so much, Mark. I always tell people it is such a weird time because life for me never really changed even though it changed for the whole world, and my life always stayed the same.

So the only thing that did change was not being able to see my loved ones, my mother being one of them. So I just can’t wait until I see my family members, friends, the rest of the community a bit stronger mentally and a bit more feeling safer to go about their normality. Obviously, all being well.

MB: Thank you so, so much for that.