Sister act, back in the habit of boosting staff immunity to Covid-19 and flu

Sisters and colleagues Sharon Ashton and Mandy Reynolds have been vaccinating NHS staff across Sheffield with COVID-19 boosters and flu jabs.

In total the pair have given 240 COVID-19 booster jabs and 343 flu vaccinations, and they still have more booked in, as colleagues battle with the pressures of working in the NHS in Winter and do their best to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to each other and service users in the city.

Sharon and Mandy are nurses, both working for Sheffield Health and Social Crae NHS Foundation Trust (SHSC).  The staff at the Trust provide a wide range of services for people in Sheffield with mental health issues, learning disabilities and substance misuse issues.

In total, 1,800 staff have had their flu jabs and a whopping 1,580 have had their COVID-19 booster.

Sharon who is a Ward Manager at Forest Close, Middlewood said: "I absolutely love being a vaccinator and working with my sister is a bonus! Naturally we work really well together, its really great to do such an important job with my sibling alongside me.  I feel passionate about protecting our staff and service users from an extremely unpleasant and potentially deadly viruses like flu and COVID-19.

"I want everyone to know what a rewarding experience it is to vaccinate your colleagues. The convenience we provide when we take our jabs out on the road to staff at sites across the city really makes a difference to the uptake of vaccines.

"I really enjoy meeting new people through being a vaccinator, and I like travelling across sites to administer jabs.

"This year I worked in our COVID-19 vaccination hub at Fulwood, and I really enjoyed supporting people who were a little nervous or worried about the jabs.

“People were really appreciative and seeing the look on their faces once they had been vaccinated and sharing in their relief at having the vaccine was a wonderful feeling.

"From a professional point of view, being a vaccinator gives me that little bit extra job satisfaction and I really love the team I work with and supporting new colleagues to join our vaccinator team.”