Covid-19: Northern Ireland's vaccine volunteers

Almost a quarter of adults in Northern Ireland have received their first vaccination dose since Belfast Health Trust nurse Joanna Sloan became the first recipient on 8 December.

BBC News NI has been speaking to some some of the volunteers helping to ensure as many people as possible are immunised.

Patients are being offered vaccines in order of priority, based on their age and clinical vulnerability.

On 12 January, the Department of Health published a detailed timetable for delivering vaccinations to those prioritised groups.

The vaccination rate in Northern Ireland remains above that in the Republic of Ireland - if slightly lower than in other UK nations.

The Covid-19 vaccine rollout in Northern Ireland is an unprecedented public health operation.

As well as current frontline healthcare staff, retired doctors, nurses and members of the public have been pitching in.

A year-and-a-half after retiring from his practice in Rathfriland, County Down, Dr Donal O'Shaughnessy has returned to help out twice a week administering vaccines.

He felt duty-bound to help "to get the vaccines out as quickly as possible among the people I've lived with and worked with for so many years".

A former doctor for the Ireland, Ulster and Barbarians rugby teams, he said it was great to be involved in the clinics, as well as to see former patients.

"I'm just so glad that I'm able to give something back to all of these good people at this stage when I thought I was home and dry and out of it completely," said Dr O'Shaughnessy.

The uptake for the vaccine in the Rathfriland area had been very high, he said, adding that he was hopeful that would continue as the rollout continues through younger age groups.

"We might need to give them an injection every year from now on," he said. "I would still be available to do that."

"There is a great sense of hope. That is the most positive thing. It's a very rewarding experience."

Alan Law has been registered with the organisation Volunteer Now for five years and has previously helped out at events like the Irish Open golf tournament and the Giro D'Italia cycle race.

Now he is spending his free time at the Craigavon and Ballymena vaccination hubs, welcoming those coming for their jabs and helping them through the process.

He said the reaction from the public had been fantastic and there was a real sense of relief and happiness.

"There's a lot of people coming who have been shielding or isolating for months now and they feel like this is a lifeline," he said.

"They are now going to be get their life back. Be able to go out more, and do things that they have been pausing for such a long time."

Garrett Martin was an emergency department nurse for many years, before moving into senior management roles in the health service and then the Royal College of Nursing.

When the first cases of coronavirus emerged in Northern Ireland, he immediately began looking for a way to get back into frontline care and, before Christmas, was offered the role of operations manager at the Western Health Trust's vaccination centres.

His team at the Foyle Arena in Londonderry is dealing with up to 750 people every day. His staff include:

"It's been full-on, it's been incredibly hard work but it's been incredibly rewarding as well," he said

"What we're going through is monumental, it's historic and will be talked about for some time.

"So to play a some part, however small, in the recovery is something we're very proud and privileged to be to be part of."

Victoria Simpson has gone from administering routine childhood immunisations to vaccinating the elderly against Covid-19 in care homes.

She has been redeployed from her job as a health visitor in Lisburn to the vaccination centre at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald.

About 1,200 people a day are being vaccinated at the site, and she said between filling in paperwork and giving patients the information they need, the actual giving of the vaccine is the quickest part of the whole process.

She said: "It's just sometimes overwhelming just to think about the enormity of this programme and just how well it's all working.

"I'm feeling really privileged to be in this position and this is definitely going to be one for the history books to chat to the grandchildren about."

Just a few months ago, no Covid-19 vaccine had been approved for use in the UK.

Today there are three: Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca - which are currently being administered - and Moderna, which the UK has ordered 17m doses of but is not due to start arriving until spring.

But use of two different types of vaccine in Northern Ireland has also led to some confusion.

The Pfizer/BioNTech jab has to be stored and handled in a specific way which makes it harder to use in the community, so it has been mainly reserved for use in the health service vaccination hubs where frontline healthcare workers have received their vaccines.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is easier to store and administer, and has therefore been distributed to GP practices across Northern Ireland.

At the end of January, a decision was taken to open the vaccination hubs to members of the public aged 65-69, while people aged over 70 would continue to be vaccinated by their GP.