麻豆约拍

I鈥檇 had my high viz jacket for a while. But every time I thought about stewarding at a Covid vaccination centre something had come up.聽聽Stewarding fell, in marketing speak, into important but not urgent.聽聽But eventually, in light of soaring infection numbers, I got on my app, booked a slot, set off for the vaccination centre and actually wore that sleeveless, NHS branded, unmissable, yellow badge of honour over my warmest puffa coat. I arrived for my shift uncharacteristically nervous.聽聽When I had my own vaccinations, the volunteers were confident, helpful, even poised.聽聽They knew all the answers and kept smiling despite driving rain, crowds of people and Covid itself.聽聽

I was sent outside with the queues, one for people with appointments and one for opportunistic Walk Ins.聽聽I was briefed by Kevin, a helpful NHS staff member, and started directing the arrivals, finding masks for people who forgot one, and bringing a terrified child of 12, a man with disabilities and a needle phobic teenager to the front. The queue length ebbed and flowed, sometimes nothing then suddenly wrapped round the block but throughout my shift, not one person complained, and several took the time, regardless of my incompetence, to chat and share their stories. I logged-off for a break and an聽extra聽hot chocolate at the nearby coffee shop, feeling slightly self-conscious in my canary yellow kit. As well as some funny looks, this gave me time to reflect on the task in hand rather than my own chilly feet.

Pikuach nefesh, is the Jewish commandment to set aside all commitments and rules for the sake of saving a life. Nothing matters more.聽聽In Deuteronomy we read聽鈥淚 have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore, choose life, that you may live.鈥澛燣ike everyone else, I鈥檓 desperate for the pandemic to be over, to return to gatherings and fun with friends.聽聽But right now, helping to get people vaccinated 鈥� or just getting vaccinated -聽聽is, quite simply,聽聽choosing life. So, as I fumbled to hang up my yellow jacket that evening, job done, my slightly rigid fingers felt a little less like frost bite and a great deal more like a blessing.