The Only Way Is Essex: Bobby Norris on becoming a Covid vaccinator

Bobby has experience of giving injections and got lots of training

From Dubai to the Maldives, Instagram is full of influencers jetting off around the world at the moment.

But one reality TV star who's not on the beach right now is Bobby Norris.

The Only Way is Essex veteran has become a volunteer vaccinator for St John Ambulance, meaning if you're getting a Covid jab, it might just be Bobby who administers it.

"Covid has affected my family hugely" Bobby tells Newsbeat.

"My nan lost her partner last year to Covid and I myself contracted the virus just before Christmas."

He says he's "never felt so rough".

"I was barely out of bed and I was sleeping 12-14 hours a day. The only positive of that - and there isn't many - was that when I was asleep I didn't feel rough. I almost welcomed 14 hours of sleep."

It was "then and there" that Bobby decided he wanted to help.

"I haven't got a magic wand" Bobby says, but what he did have was experience of vaccinating.

"I'd been injecting my mum everyday when she had leukaemia a few years ago, doing injections was nothing new to me."

So when he found out that St John Ambulance was looking for volunteers, Bobby said "why not?"

But it wasn't just a case of strolling out of his Essex home and onto the front line, Bobby had to do a lot of training before the jab was put in his hands.

He did some online learning about the vaccines, health and safety, how to administer and store the them, and then a face-to-face training day.

"I don't want anyone to be worrying - it's not someone who's just rocked up and rolled in saying 'here I am'.

"There is a lot that goes into it. You have to be assessed and passed as competent.

"I think that so many people are willing and wanting the vaccine now. To know that there's volunteers out there to take pressure off the NHS, it all helps them."

He's now waiting to find out which vaccination centres he'll be working at.

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When it comes to other reality TV stars jetting off around the world, Bobby is keen to not "open up that can of worms".

"Everyone would have made their personal decision" he says.

"If they truly believe what they were doing was essential work, it's not for me to sit here and judge."

Last week that Home Secretary Priti Patel publicly had a go at influencers, accusing them of "showing off about which parts of the world they are in".

"For me the shame of it is that a lot of us are tarred with that brush," says Bobby.

"When someone says a reality star it's almost become quite negative over the last few months."

He says he's received "so many messages and comments" about it all.

"It's just a huge thing. I just think there's no appetite at the moment to see people on the beach or around the pool."

Bobby says he's happy putting his energy into staying in the UK and "doing something I know I can do and something I'm passionate about."

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