Last week the United Kingdom reached an extraordinary 65 million vaccinations. Perhaps you have enjoyed watching the news for a change, as vaccination totals climb through the tens of millions and Covid numbers simultaneously decline. It’s reassuring to feel a community groundswell pushing against the disease, as part of a national effort in rolling back the tide of infections.  The RBKC clinics at St Charles and Violet Melchett have administered almost 150,000 vaccinations since December, reaching the high 70% of most age groups.

But did you ever wonder what it takes to apply 65 million injections? It involves thousands of surgeries, sports halls and hospitals all over the country. Trained vaccinators, members of the NHS and the Services, administrators and ushers – and almost all of them are volunteers. That’s thousands and thousands of volunteers.

For the Norland area the vaccination hub is St Charles Hospital – you’ve probably been there at least once. Three teams have been created, covering the 220,000 patients of around 40 local GP surgeries in the borough, and they have been vaccinating on a rota for six days a week since just after Christmas, when hospitalisations were scarily high. The clinics inject between 750 and 1000, occasionally 1,500 people, each day (largely depending on vaccine supply).

So much for the plan. Can you imagine the human-induced chaos of dozens of people descending on the hospital for appointments at seven minute intervals?  They join the queue, sometimes the wrong queue (Pfizer, AZ, any queue will do, even if they have come for a podiatry appointment or an X-ray); they cluster in groups or distance themselves so far apart you need a megaphone to call to them forward. And they just love stopping in doorways, where they’re liable to be run down by the rubbish trolley. You can tell I volunteer as an usher … I think of it as ‘herd management’. 

People have been known to dress up – well, for some people, their first vaccination was their first outing for a year. But it can have implications when they arrive at the vaccination booth: they look blank and say: “Oh … of course … yes … er … my upper arm …”

And so begins the process (while vaccinators and administrators hop around the booth thinking of their targets) … of removing jacket, tie, cardigan, cufflinks and eventually their shirt … Or, in one woman’s case - she was in a rather fetching full-length woollen dress with tight cuffs - her whole outfit. 

Oh, I talk it down –  in fact the programme has an altogether uplifting air. Almost everyone is happy to be there. Some are a little nervous, but they remain positive (burbling reassurance is another part of an usher’s job). And almost every single person stands politely in line; occasionally they strike up conversation as they wait. 

Around 45 or 50 people are involved each day in the clinics at St Charles, each of the 15 pods has a vaccinator and an assistant to input medical data; then there are around 10 ushers chivvying people along, with a further five or so administrators checking people in, and a clinical lead. Usually the pharmacists are the only paid NHS staff.

As of yesterday 150,000 vaccinations were given in RBKC, 91,957 of them first doses, and 43,653 second doses. Nationwide, the campaign has had a visible effect in suppressing spikes in infections and preventing an estimated 12,000 deaths. But for clinical director Dr Naomi Katz, responsible for the campaign in the borough, the clearest evidence of the change is this: “When we started in December there were some very unwell people in Covid care centres just along the corridor. Now it’s much calmer in those clinics and as we reach the 30-year olds it’s great to feel we are beating the disease.”

Back out in the queue, which can stretch for 50 yards at times, there are streams of partially lost people, issued instructions and reassuring burble, and chat, as hundreds of people arrive and politely wait their turn, all contributing to the national response to the pandemic. I am sure that Jeremy Paxman wouldn’t mind me repeating his observation that the whole operation has ‘a spirit of the Blitz’.

As the vaccination programme continues, particularly as life elsewhere opens up, the clinics are always in need of new volunteers. If you would like to help, email wlccg.covidvaccination@nhs.net