‘It’s brilliant – an amazing collaboration’

At the University of Southampton, Professor Saul Faust has been focusing on delivering Covid vaccine trials and managing trials treatments and diagnostic tests across the Wessex region. All vaccines available in the UK have been rigorously tested, and Professor Faust – director of the National Institute for Health Research’s Clinical Research Facility – has been instrumental in making sure that happens safely. Now he’s proud to see the vaccine being rolled out. “It’s been brilliant – an amazing collaboration across the research and NHS networks,” he says. “Without the vaccine and NHS deployment, we will not be able to prevent further waves and impact that would have on the NHS. “Even if the infection becomes an endemic condition like flu, the vaccine will stop people dying, and stop most people becoming so ill they have to go to hospital.” So what would he say to people who are worried about getting the vaccine? “Please look around at how successful this has been so far, without lots of side effects. Hopefully this will give people confidence to take the vaccine when offered,” he says. “When it comes to the time between doses, many vaccines involve longer delays between doses that often provide better immunity in the longer term. “The vaccination programme is being rolled out in the way that is best for the UK population, and to try to ease pressure on the NHS and stop people dying. The scientific data is robust. It is better to give one dose to more people and then top it up. This is not a political decision; it is a scientific one based on robust data so far.”

any military personnel have come together to help speed up the vaccination programme, and 27-year-old Calum MacLeod of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards is just one of them. He was called upon by GMC (General Medical Council) Scotland to help set up sites in Glasgow that will be vaccinating more than 1,000 people each day.

“We at the Scots DG have been tasked with identifying and validating vaccination centres, and getting them up and running,” says Calum. “We’re doing anything from helping to lay flooring, to moving chairs and tables around. We’ve been on task now for just under two weeks.

“We’ve got 11 teams operational across Scotland,” he explains. “I’ve got eight people in my team in Glasgow, plus a reserve back in Leuchars. NHS Scotland has scouted out the key sites, and we go in with a checklist that involves assessing things like how big the car park is, and whether there’s enough space for the centre – to set out the number of vaccination cells that they want. Then there are issues like, where can we put the vaccination fridges? Is there good ventilation – not only in the hall, but in the room to keep the fridges cool?”

Each person involved in the vaccination programme has valuable skills to bring to the project, and their determination to work together and make a difference really shows.

“Every single organisation, whether that be NHS Scotland, the military, the local authorities or the contractors is bringing its own expertise,” says Calum. “The Army brings organisational capacity and a can-do attitude. It’s a vast effort by everyone involved. Then we’re helping to think outside the box; the Scots DG has had some experience working with this sort of military aid to civil authorities, as we were deployed earlier in the pandemic to construct mobile testing units.

“It was actually a similar situation there, where we would be given a site and then had to transform it from being in a car park or something like that into an actual operational centre where people could be tested. These have now been taken over by the Scotland Ambulance Service.”

And as the vaccination programme has shown so far, speed is of the essence – and with more than 10 million people across the UK already having received their first dose, things are moving fast.

“A large centre, like most of the ones in Glasgow that I’ve been working on, will handle 1,818 people per day – someone has really done the maths! I know some of the other guys have been working on extra-large ones whose capacity is even greater,” says Calum, who stresses how proud he is to be doing something for people in Scotland. “I’m from the local area so it feels really good to be getting these vaccinations out. A lot of my soldiers are also really happy and motivated to be helping communities across Scotland.”

Calum is well aware of the impor tance of his and his team members’ efforts in helping everyone be able to return to normality.

“When we take off the uniform at night, we’re just regular people, and like everyone else we want to get back to our everyday lives – going to the pub at weekends, meeting friends in restaurants or parks,” he says.

“Partners and families have all been affected by this, so we just want to get everything back on track, and we’re more than happy to do our bit.”