Vaccine centre 'left short' as volunteers return to work

Bhavini Patel's centre has administered more than 16,000 jabs

Covid-19 vaccination centres could be "left short" as volunteers return to regular work, a pharmacist has warned.

Almost half of the 30 volunteers at the Boyatt Pharmacy vaccination centre in Eastleigh, Hampshire, are set to return to their jobs as restrictions ease.

Pharmacist Bhavini Patel said she would have to recruit more volunteers to maintain the current volume of jabs.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society said it was "confident" there were sufficient volunteer numbers overall.

The national roll out of vaccinations has been helped by an army of volunteers who have helped with logistics, stewarding and administration at Covid-19 vaccination centres.

Hannah Lewis trained as a volunteer vaccinator at the Boyatt Pharmacy vaccination centre when her beauty salon closed during the lockdown.

With her business able to reopen from 12 April, she said she had "mixed emotions" at cutting back on her volunteering duties.

"I really felt I was doing something worthwhile.

"I'm happy going back to work, but I'm going to miss being at the vaccination centre."

"It's going to be tough to keep the volume of volunteers going."

Beauty salon owner Hannah Lewis trained as a volunteer vaccinator

The Boyatt Pharmacy centre has administered more than 16,000 jabs since the end of January but is set to lose 12 of its 30 regular volunteers.

Pharmacist Ms Patel said: "I don't think we could have done it without them, especially when the vaccine roll-out was so fast.

"We're happy for them to go back to their working lives but we'll miss them dearly.

"It's definitely going to leave us short but hopefully our retired volunteers will step up and we'll look for more.

Ms Patel said she hoped to be able to recruit enough new volunteers to continue offering vaccinations six days a week.

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Royal Pharmaceutical Society chair Claire Anderson said volunteers had been a "great support" for pharmacy and NHS teams providing vaccinations.

"Despite restrictions being lifted and the likelihood of some volunteers returning to their normal employment, we remain confident that there remains sufficient capacity within the system to continue the vaccines roll out at pace".

David Noyes, chief operating officer of Solent NHS Trust, said: "We have a strong team of volunteers and staff who will continue to vaccinate people as we carry on through the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation cohorts.

"Volunteers play an important role in supporting the success of the programme and we are incredibly grateful to everybody who has given up their time."