Vaccination volunteers contribute over 1,000 hours to support NHS

Student volunteers across The University of Manchester have given up over 1,000 hours of their time to support the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

When vaccination sites were set up across the country in December, there was an urgent call out for volunteers to quickly vaccinate as many people as possible. Working in collaboration with Manchester Health Care and Commissioning, the NHS and St John Ambulance, hundreds of students have stepped up to volunteer as stewards, translators, data inputters and vaccinators, playing a crucial role in the fight against COVID-19.

Maisie Camm, a final year Biomedical Sciences student who has been volunteering as a vaccinator for St John Ambulance said: “The first shift flew by and I absolutely loved it so I signed up for more. It has been a great opportunity for me and I’m very lucky to have had the chance to help people during this time.”

Maisie is applying to study Medicine in the Autumn, and so her experience supporting the distribution of the vaccine was the perfect chance to learn new skills and chat with new people.

Speaking about his motivations for volunteering as an observer, Antasar Bashir-Suleman who is studying Chemistry commented: “I started volunteering as I wanted to help Manchester out in getting as many people vaccinated as possible. Whilst volunteering, I met many different people (volunteers, staff and patients) from all scopes of life and I made some friends.”

Hundreds of students have volunteered not just in Manchester, but also across the world including as far afield as Saudi Arabia. These incredible students have demonstrated that no matter where you are, everyone can make a real impact as part of a University community.

Students can still get involved with the vaccination efforts by signing up on the University’s Volunteer Hub.