Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
A call to arms as Mary rallies Golden Oldies vaccine army
Mary added: “I’ve always been an active person but I find now that I’m struggling, and I’m seeing everyone else deteriorate too. This vaccine finally gives us some hope. For the members of the club, it will give them a new lease of life.”
Two friends of Mary’s, who are also former nurses, agreed.
Pat Webster, 71, who recently recovered from having Covid-19 herself, said: “There must be a lot of us out there.
“They would have to train us because the vaccine needs to be stored below freezing temperatures, but that would be no different for existing nurses – they would need that same training too. As far as I know it’s a subcutaneous injection, so you just need to know the process.”
Pat, who founded Dundee charity Haven, added: “I’m quite capable, my eyesight is good, and I would put my name forward for it.”
Joyce McGregor, 72, who lives in the West End and retired 12 years ago, said she wouldn’t have “any qualms” about administering vaccines again.
She said: “I was very good at giving injections – and did it with a smile on my face as well. I’m sure many former nurses would come and help the programme if they were needed. Not a problem.
“I would definitely go for it.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced yesterday that, if supplies arrive on time, the first jabs will be administered next Tuesday.
She described the approval of the Pfizer vaccine as “without a shadow of a doubt the best news we have heard since the pandemic started”.
However, she warned that the vaccination programme would be a “massive logistical exercise”.
Elderly people in care homes and their carers are top of the list to receive the vaccine, which has been shown in studies to be 95% effective.
Gordon Samson, a volunteer at Dundee Pensioners’ Forum, said: “I look forward to this and would encourage retired people that they should take this vaccine – full stop. I know some people have doubts, but this vaccine will hopefully see pensioners return back to some kind of normality, without fear hanging over them.
“The majority of older people have stuck by the rules this year and that has brought difficulties, especially loneliness. Finally, we’re starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.”
Gordon, 79, a former worker at Dundee’s Timex factory, said he had lost two close colleagues and two neighbours to Covid-19.
“This year has been a struggle for many pensioners,” he said. “My age group bore the brunt of casualties. I’ve known people who couldn’t get to see their loved ones in care homes and hospitals, and then these people passed away.
“We don’t want to go back to that.
“Care homes will be first in line for the vaccine and I’m happy to wait for my turn.
“I’ve got my flu jab and this jab will just be another one.”