Nucleus staff help with Covid-19 vaccination rollout at Wick and Thurso
Volunteers from the Nuclear and Caithness Archives have given a helping hand to NHS staff during the vaccine rollout in the far north.
Staff at Nucleus have been assisting with the administrative side of delivering the vaccine along with ensuring patients are kept safe and socially distanced, freeing up NHS staff to continue with the clinical side of the rollout.
Workers from the Thurso and Wick sites also helped by issuing information and masks, and monitoring the patients afterwards to ensure they had no ill effects.
Nucleus site manager Chris Sinclair praised the efforts of staff in playing their part in helping to vaccinate people in Caithness.
He said: “Too many of us have friends and family who have been hit by Covid-19. For almost a year, we’ve been told to look out for each other to contain the virus, and it seems apt that we work together to get the vaccination over the line.
“I’m proud of the staff who have assisted the NHS in the delivery of the vaccinations and look forward to providing continued assistance from our staff base in the coming weeks and months.
“This has been a tough 12 months, and the community are really feeling the effects of this lockdown in particular. Everyone is looking forward to the community being in a position to reopen, and assisting in the vaccination programme feels like a great step toward this goal.”
The teams helped at vaccination sessions at William Smith House, Thurso, on February 1 and Caithness General Hospital, Wick, on February 2.
More staff have since volunteered to be available for future sessions and bosses have allowed flexible working in order to help meet the needs of the NHS delivery.
Mikey MacGregor, of the Nucleus warehouse team, said: “When Chris asked if anyone would volunteer to help with the rollout, there was no way we’d not want to help. We’ve been working on the phones, making sure people are getting contacted and booked in, and giving support to those who aren’t sure when they can go in.
“We’re not doing anything medical but it’s great to know we’re still helping.”
Nucleus is the site of the Nuclear and Caithness Archives, located by Wick Airport. It was built to manage the records of the UK nuclear industry and currently employs over 50 people.