A number of Norwich City’s first-team players and staff received COVID vaccination boosters at the Norwich Community Hospital on Friday.
Jonny Martin, head of first team operations at Norwich City, said: “Whilst we thought we’d be travelling down to West Ham today, we’ve managed to use this opportunity to get these guys boosted with their third doses, which is such a big thing for us.
“It’s important we try to get football to keep going. We’re in a very good place as a club because we’ve got 50 percent now who have had three doses and are over 90 percent for the second dose. If we can get as many people vaccinated as possible then we can make sure there’s at least some form of protection against the latest strain of the virus.
“We have daily testing, which has been going on for the last year and a half. We do socially distanced changing room and travel, using two or three coaches when we go away. The main thing is the testing program, which is used a lot more in society now as well. It’s good that we’re using that to its maximum. If anyone’s got symptoms, we make sure that we call them and test them with PCRs and lateral flows. I appreciate there’s a shortage of those right now, but making sure you get tested if you’ve got symptoms is the key, and then isolating if you need to.
“We have to thank the guys here to get it turned around in 24 hours, which is really impressive.”
Norwich Community Hospital have given 27,881 doses of the COVID vaccination in Norfolk and Waveney according to Ryan, who is the clinical lead at the vaccine centre.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re Teemu Pukki in peak physical fitness or me, who is not particularly fit - there’s no rule on who gets side effects and who doesn’t, but the benefits far outweigh the effects,” he said.
“It’s natural to feel nervous about getting a vaccine, but the science backs up that it’s safe, effective and the best way of getting out of this crisis, so I really encourage people to seek out the advice from the NHS and get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“In the local community, so many people look up to the Norwich players, especially young people, so it’s really good to see them here and being a part of the booster program.”
Susan Glegg, an NHS nurse who has worked at the vaccine centre for the past year, echoed those sentiments.
“They’re role models the younger people are following,” she said. “They’ve seen that they’ve been here today and are going to think that if they can do it, so can we. We’ve been very honoured to have them here today.
“Scientists have shown us that the two vaccines don’t help as much as they thought it was going to, so the booster is needed. Some people, who are immunosuppressed, have a booster dose and then come for another third dose three months after that.
“Lots of people are nervous when they come in here and we’re aware of that, so we’re very calming with them. Most people leave here feeling very confident and pleased that they’ve been here. If they’re frightened of side effects, we’ll help them understand how it’s saving lives, families and relatives. If we want to have a nice Christmas, that’s what we need to be doing.”
