By Prof Gino Martini, Chief Scientist at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society,

Trustee at Harlow Health Centres Trust (https://hhct.org.uk/)

Volunteer at Lister Health Centre

Why Boosting has given me the boost – the importance of volunteering and giving

I am now back volunteering again at the Lister Medical Centre delivering the much needed and important booster to the good citizens of Harlow.

I say back, but I never really left the Lister Vaccination team but rather reduced my hours whilst I embarked on a new full-time’ role in running a new science park.

Now that Christmas is coming up, I was left with a choice of what I was going with my ‘spare time’ – as this is the season of giving – I felt it was important that a gift I could give Harlow was my time in delivering the booster jabs!  Protecting people, keeping them healthy for longer is one of the reasons I studied pharmacy and I became a pharmacist.

We are now faced with a new variant with the older variants still in circulation – now is the time to embrace the booster campaign and get jabbed – please do not let us undo all that hard work, sweat and tears of the last 10 months where the UK  implemented the largest mass vaccination campaign in our history.  A campaign which did dampen the severity of the virus’s impact on people – an undisputable fact.

We must acknowledge the great work of the Vaccines Taskforce who delivered these important vaccines to the UK and to our centres – their work was, and still is critical to the success, health and wealth of the nation.

But so  are all those people  who make the vaccination centres tick – the vaccinators, the administrators, the security staff, the cleaners, the drivers – and of course those wonderful Volunteers – we can have the best vaccines in the world, but if we do not put those vaccines into people arms then those vaccines will be useless – simple fact! 

So if you are two minds about having the booster – please bear in mind the following points:

1. Vaccines are safe, they are not new and they were first ‘discovered’ in 1796 by Edward Jenner – yes that’s right in 1796!
2. Vaccines helped eradicate the scourge of ‘Small Pox’ – which is the only human disease ever to be eradicated!
3. Nearly 8.38 billion doses of a COVID-19 vaccine has been administered across 184 countries – circa 40 million doses per day!

So please , if you are called to take a booster – please go along to your vaccination centre and remember to give those Volunteers a nice smile as they are truly giving you a present – their time!  They too have families and Christmas shopping to do and Work Christmas parties they could have attended.