OVER the last year, the work of GPs has changed in unimaginable ways. I say this not for sympathy but more to give you an insight into what it’s been like behind those GP doors. The pressure of delivering services to our patients in the thick of a pandemic is something that’s never been taught to us so we turn up every day and deal with any eventuality that may come our way. Whilst navigating the usual medical problems and annual winter pressures, we have Covid and all the chaos this has brought. It’s been challenging! The collective mood of healthcare workers has been low. Me included!

This week, however, something shifted and the energy changed for the better. For the first time in a long time, some excitement at the practice surfaced. Our vaccines arrived!

It’s a strange thing to write about and I never thought I’d be writing about excitement over a box of vaccines but as I saw it in the fridge – the Covid-19 vaccine – the reality of hope came into focus.

The vaccine is being rolled out in order of priority, being given to those at the highest risk first. This includes residents in elderly care homes and their carers, people aged 80 and over and frontline health and social care workers. It’ll then be rolled out to other groups on the basis of risk.

As our vaccines arrived, our staff called up our over-80s community to invite them down, and it’s been a lovely experience to be part of this. In primary care, we are used to delivering vaccines. We do this annually on mass with the flu vaccination. But never have I experienced the level of emotion that is attached to the Covid vaccine.

One of our elderly patients broke down in tears of happiness. They said: “I’ve not seen my children and grandchildren in almost a year. I hope this means I’ll soon be able to see them again.” Another patient hadn’t left their house in months and echoed this sentiment while expressing the need for hope to go out and about again.

One by one, they turned up, despite the cold, snowy weather, and had their vaccines. Their words, their gratitude and their excitement brought a new-found light and spark to the work we do.

It is important to remember though that the vaccine is just one of the tools we have to get control over this virus. We need to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible and all efforts are being channelled into this.

However, it alone does not mean that you can become complacent. The vaccine is over 90% effective in preventing you from getting Covid-19 and suffering from serious illness as a result. Therefore, until such time that

we have some form of herd immunity, whereby the majority of the adult population is vaccinated, we must continue to keep our distance from others, wash our hands regularly and wear face coverings.

Following the rules and complying with the restrictions is imperative at this critical point. We need people to do this to reduce the burden on the NHS so all available resources can be directed towards the national mass vaccination programme.

Having now physically started the programme, I feel like a return to normality is in sight and that hope is very much now on the horizon.

“Isn’t science just wonderful,” my 93-year-old patient said to me. It sure is.