Omicron, boosters and ramping up the pace for Xmas
December started off on a wee bit of a lull, perhaps a calm before the storm. At Leith CTC the numbers attending were beginning to fall as we focused on 1st and 2nd jabs as well as some boosters. It began to pick up once we added flu jabs to the list of vaccines administered. And then along came the little known fifteenth letter of the Greek alphabet to spice things up somewhat.
Once Omicron emerged as a significantly infectious and then also highly transmissible variant the pace and demand accelerated. We do not yet know how virulent this variant is and won’t know that sadly until enough people are infected and enough time has passed. It may well be into the new year before there is any clarity on this. In the meantime our main lines of defence are increased social distancing measures, albeit variable across the UK, and a major push to get as much of the population vaccinated and especially boosted as possible.
This has meant cutting back on flu vaccinations and some enormous queues at Leith CTC at times, up to five hours long on at least a couple of days. On one of those days it fell to me to count those standing in line at about 16:30 and pick a number that I thought we could get through before the end of the day. It meant turning away perhaps 20 or 30 people at the end of the queue but hopefully they had only been waiting there for a relatively short period of time. Remarkably, despite evident disappointment, I was treated very well and fairly by almost everyone who was turned away. One individual felt that no one should be turned away and that the entire queue should be vaccinated. However for the sake of my colleagues I felt that it was unfair to ask any of them to stay on indefinitely with an ever lengthening queue and that it was better, fairer and more honest to be clear what could reasonably be achieved. Even with the numbers selected and the queue culled we carried on vaccinating well after our official closing time of 6pm.
By the week before Christmas, and once the EICC had been rebooted as a vaccination centre, the pace began to slacken a little, although I anticipate that numbers will remain high well into January in order to get everyone as fully vaccinated as possible.
Despite some very lengthy queues I have not encountered one person recently who has expressed or demonstrated anything other than gratitude and kindness once they have reached a member of the vaccination team. Indeed many have brought along gifts of biscuits and chocolates as Xmas has drawn near. Thanks to all of you for coming, getting vaccinated, doing your social duty and for being so pleasant.
My main frustration has been my inability to organise any extra shifts despite the increased demand for vaccinations and vaccinators. My attempts to join the staff bank have not yet progressed as far as a reply, and my offer of working an extra shift once a week for the next few weeks has not yet been acted on either. Hopefully that will change soon.
But in the meantime, Hogmanay is fast approaching, I will be getting this blinking boot off my left foot and beginning my lower leg rebuilding process in the new year. My resolution is to get my calf and ankle back to normal no later than Easter, fingers crossed.
January should see me continue vaccinating at Leith CTC. At the moment I plan to continue with my two day a week contract until the end of March. By which time I would hope to be back on the main NMC register for a further three years as well as on NHS Lothian staff bank. I will then continue vaccinating a few days a month over the spring and summer with perhaps some more regular work in the Autumn and winter of 2022 subject to whatever else the Greek alphabet throws at us between now and then.
Happy New Year.
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